PEN PROTEST / DAY OF THE DEAD 2020
Thirteen Latin American countries celebrate the Day of the Dead and remember the journalists and writers killed in the region.
Latin-American authors join an international call to end impunity for crimes against journalists and writers and conduct investigations against these crimes. They also call on goverments to stop the threats and murders against journalists and writers.
PEN International launches its new Twitter @PEN_LAC, with information for the region.
PEN International and its Centres in Latin America and the Caribbean will mark the Day of the Dead in a series of events held between 29 October and 7 November 2020. During their events – held in the United States, Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Haiti, Paraguay, Ecuador, Argentina, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Bolivia – they will call on Latin American governments to break the cycle of impunity, and protect their journalists from persecution. They will also commemorate the lives of those who have been killed for exercising their right to freedom of expression and whose cases have gone unsolved.
“In a year in which death has touched all our lives through the pandemic, PEN International calls on the governments of the Americas and the Caribbean to respect freedom of expression and stop the harassment, imprisonment and murder of journalists and writers. PEN Protests / Day of the Dead honours heroic journalists who have lost their lives and who have been failed by their governments,” said Jennifer Clement, President of PEN International.
According to the UN, Latin America and the Caribbean is the second most dangerous region to work as a journalist, with at least 38 journalists from print or digital media killed between 2018 to 2020. Mexico and Brazil are the two countries in which it is most dangerous to be a journalist. More than 90% of these crimes remain unpunished.
On 2 November, PEN International also commemorates the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists; in this context, PEN calls on the authorities of 13 countries to protect their journalists and the right to freedom of expression as the path to democracy and peace. PEN also calls on governments to ensure justice for crimes against journalists.
Respect for human rights, and even more so for freedom of expression, has become urgent in the midst of the health crisis that we currently face globally. A free press, moreover, has proven key to an effective response to the health crisis, in light of its indispensable role in enabling access to information and promoting transparency. Every murder has an inhibitory effect on the journalism of each nation.
Latin American governments such as Cuba, Nicaragua or Venezuela have transformed the Covid-19 pandemic into an opportunity to create laws that inhibit freedom of expression. In countries like Mexico, Honduras and Brazil the murders of journalists continue to rise. PEN Protest - Day of the Dead is a call to stop the climate of impunity and aggression in the region, allowing the right to freedom of expression.