Honduran
radio station manager gunned down
by
Reporters Without Borders
Nery
Jeremías Orellana, 26, the manager of Radio Joconguera in the town
of Candelaria, in the western department of Lempira, was gunned down
yesterday morning, bringing the number of Honduran journalists killed
since the start of the year to three. A total of 12 journalists have
been killed in the past 18 months in Honduras without any of their
murders being solved.
"Orellana
headed a commercial radio station that works with civil society
organizations and belongs to an alternative network of community
radio stations," Reporters Without Borders said. "He was
also a member of the Broad Front of Popular Resistance (FARP), an
opposition movement. All this means that he was kind of journalist
who was liable to be a target for violence."
The
press freedom organization added: "The motive for his murder has
yet to be determined, but the possibility that it was linked to his
journalistic or political activities should be prioritized in an
investigation that needs to be carried out quickly. When will there
be justice in Honduras? When will the impunity end?
"Honduras's
recent readmission to the Organization of American States, has not in
any way addressed the problems created by the June 2009 coup d'état
or the resulting challenges that the country still faces – the need
to restore the rule of law and establish real pluralism. The
international community must not forget these demands."
According
to the Honduran Committee for Free Expression (C-Libre), Orellana was
shot several times in the head on his motorcyle by gunmen just
minutes after he phoned Radio Progreso, a station for which he was
also a correspondent, to confirm that he was going to participate in
a regional meeting of community radio stations today.
He
was rushed to a hospital in Sensutepeque, a town on the Salvadoran
side of the nearby border, where he died of his injuries a few hours
later.
Radio
Joconguera often covered human rights violations in the surrounding
communities. The persecution of other stations such as Radio Faluma
Bimetu and La Voz de Zacate Grande has shown how dangerous it can be
for certain local media to cover social issues and land conflicts.
