IDEI 2023: Criminalization and violence against community and indigenous media in Latin America and the Caribbean - Challenges and Responses

Latin America and the Caribbean was the deadliest region for journalists in 2022, with 44 killings, more than half of all journalists killed worldwide. Mexico tops the list of countries with the highest number of killings with 19 murders, followed by Ukraine with ten and Haiti with nine.

Community communicators are therefore among the most vulnerable and least protected in a profession already affected by high levels of violence.  Often without the support of a media outlet that can protect their safety, community communicators in various countries in the region face serious threats, not only to the exercise of their profession but also to the protection of their lives and those of their families.

In this framework, the analysis of initiatives to promote the safety of the most vulnerable journalists in the entire collective is of particular importance in the context of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (IDEI).

This side event to the global commemoration of IDEI 2023 brings together civil society organisations and the Inter-American Human Rights System in order to review the current situation of community communicators and discuss the best strategies to respond to the specific needs of this group.

OPENING REMARKS

• Rosa M. González, UNESCO Regional Adviser in Communication and Information for Latina America and the Caribbean

• Diego Rodríguez-Pinzón, Co-Director, Academy on Human Rights & Humanitarian Law, American University Washington College of Law 

MODERATOR

• Claudia Martín, Co-Director, Academy on Human Rights & Humanitarian Law, American University Washington College of Law 

SPEAKERS

• Damián Loreti, OBSERVACOM
• Mónica Valdés, World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters - Latin America and the Caribbean (AMARC-ALC)
• Adriana Sunún, Representative of the Mayan Lawyers and Notaries Association
• Ricardo Pérez Manrique, President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR)
• Pedro Vaca, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)
   

CLOSING REMARKS

• Eduardo Bertoni, Representative of the Regional Office of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights for South America and former Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
   

• Date: 1 November 
• Time: 12.00 Whashington, DC time (10hs from Mexico | 13hs from Montevideo)Modality (both require registration here https://shorturl.at/gyW49

-In-person participation: Room Y402, School of Law, American University, 4300 Nebraska Ave NW, Washington, DC 20016.

-Virtual participation: via Zoom platform (you will receive your link after registering).

• Simultaneous interpretation Spanish-English will be provided.