The United Nations (UN) human rights office and an international press rights group on Friday condemned the murder of a Mexican journalist in Veracruz, the deadliest state for reporters in Mexico.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the authorities to conduct a “swift, effective and impartial” investigation into the murder of Pedro Tamayo Rosas.
A 45-year-old newspaper reporter who covered crime, Tamayo was gunned down in front of his wife and two grown sons outside his home in the town of Tierra Blanca on Wednesday night.
Reporters Without Borders said the investigation should focus on whether Tamayo’s murder was linked to his journalistic work.
The murder demonstrates that the “generalized violence against the press in Mexico, especially in Veracruz, is devastating,” the international media rights organization said.
More than 90 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 2010, and 17 others have disappeared.
In Veracruz, 19 journalists have been murdered since 2010, when outgoing Governor Javier Duarte took office.
He has angered rights groups by suggesting that some journalists are linked to drug cartels.
Tamayo had fled Tierra Blanca in January after reporting on the disappearance of five young people who had been taken away by Veracruz state police in Tierra Blanca. The authorities say they were probably killed by a drug cartel.
Tamayo was receiving help from the state commission for the protection of journalists, which helped him leave for several months. When he returned to Tierra Blanca, the commission provided regular police patrols around his house.
Tamayo’s family told AFP that a state police vehicle was parked near the house during the homicide but that the officers did nothing to arrest the killers and even “laughed” at a relative asking for help.
Eight state police officers appeared before the state prosecutor’s office on Thursday to give their version of the events. Their legal status remains unknown.