“We want them alive”

Several hundred journalists and media workers took part in peaceful marches in five Mexican cities on 7 August at which the names of all of Mexico’s missing journalists were read out. Organised under the slogan of “Les queremos vivos” (We want them alive), the demonstrations took place in Mexico City and four other states that have been hit particularly hard by the federal government’s war on drug trafficking – Chihuahua, Chiapas, Nuevo León and Sonora. Reporters Without Borders participated in the march in the capital, which ended outside the interior ministry (Secretaría de Gobernación). Watch the video of the Mexico City demonstration at this link: The protests were timed to precede the arrival of the OAS and UN special rapporteurs for freedom of expression, Catalina Botero and Frank la Rue, who will remain in Mexico until 24 August. They have said intend to promote the creation of a new internationally-recognised risk category to be called “area of intense and permanent clashes” that would apply to journalists working in countries such as Mexico, which are not regarded as “war zones” under international treaties. If accepted, this new legal concept would require the countries concerned to follow so far undefined procedures in case of journalists who are the victims of violence. Reporters Without Borders approves of the principle of this initiative.