Mexico rights agency mourns killing of yet another journalist, demands investigation

Mexico rights agency decries slaying of reporter

ACAPULCO, Mexico — Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission urged authorities Tuesday to investigate the killing of a reporter in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, the fourth slaying of a Mexican journalist this year.

Guerrero state police said reporter Juan Rodriguez Rios and his wife were shot to death Monday inside an internet cafe they operated in the town of Coyuca de Benitez, near the resort of Acapulco. Police had not determined a motive.

Rodriguez Rios also worked for the newspaper El Sol de Acapulco. Many of the journalists killed in recent years are thought to have been targeted by drug cartels but rival cartels also have engaged in turf battles in the Acapulco region and business owners face extortion threats from gangs.

The rights commission said in a statement that “the impunity of attacks against journalists is unacceptable.” The panel says at least 61 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 2000 — 12 last year and four so far in 2010.

Press freedom groups say Mexico is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists.