“The murder of journalist Benjamin Morales Hernández, which occurred after having publicly denounced the threats he received for his publications, confirms the risk that journalists in Mexico face in carrying out their work,” said Guillermo Fernández Maldonado, UN-DH representative in Mexico.
In turn, he said that the prevention of this violence required measures to address the structural causes of vulnerability found in journalistism, especially in the most violent areas of the country.
“Cases like the murder of Morales Hernández are not isolated, but part of a context of media vulnerability in many areas of Mexico,” guillermo Fernández said.
Benajamín Morales Hernández was a journalist and founder of the media Noticias Xonoidag, Resilience where he disseminated information about the municipality of Sonoyta, Sonora.
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On 1 May 2021, a day before he had been abducted by armed men at his home, he had reported via social media that he had received anonymous threats through the same platform used to disseminate his contents.
On 3 May his lifeless body, with signs of violence, was found on the Sonoyta-Caborca road.
UN-DH required the authorities to take all necessary measures to ensure an early and effective investigation into benjamin Morales’ murder, “to understand all lines of inquiry, including the possible linkage of the murder to its journalistic activity and to allegations of threats received by the journalist.”
The international organization also recalled that in recent months there have been other cases of serious attacks on journalists in the state of Sonora, such as the disappearance of journalists Jorge Molontzín Centlal, on March 10, and Pablo Felipe Romero Chávez, on March 25.
“It is essential that the authorities prioritize the resources necessary to ensure the state duty of an effective search for Molontzín Centlal and Romero Chávez, as well as the investigation of the facts that led to their disappearance.”
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