Threats

Any action by which a message is directly or indirectly issued verbally, in writing, or otherwise to journalists, communicators, editors, directors or communications media with the objective of procuring self-censorship or direct or indirect censorship. From 2007 to 2014, ARTICLE19 has documented 289 threats to communicators and media.

 

Homicide

Any action that deprives an individual of his or her life. Considered to be the most extreme form of censorship. From 2007 to 2014, ARTICLE19 has documented 64 homicides in Mexico.

Slander, Defamation and Libel

Actions by which a media journalist, communicator, editor, or director stands accused by the courts due to the content of a publication or any other form of media speech with the objective of procuring self-censorship or to discredit said content, causing him or her to run the risk of being sanctioned with prison sentences or the payment of fines. From 2007 to 2014, ARTICLE19 has documented 22 cases of criminal charges filed against communicators for slander or libel.

Disappearance

Action that brings about a lack of information concerning the whereabouts of a media journalist, editor, director or worker who has vanished without a trace, leaving behind evidence of violence committed by government agents either directly or through tolerance or acquiescence. From 2007 to 2014, ARTICLE19 has documented 14 disappearances.

 

Displacement

A person who finds themselves compelled to flee their city or community as a consequence of a serious violation of their personal safety or threats to the practice of their profession. From 2007 to 2014, ARTICLE19 has documented the emigration of 33 communicators for these reasons.

 

Arbitrary Arrest

When the arrest of an individual by an officer of the law lacks legal grounds and is in violation of his or her human rights, it is considered illegal and arbitrary. From 2007 to 2014, ARTICLE19 has documented 152 arbitrary arrests of communicators.

Physical/Material

Forms of aggression that seek to cause some kind of physical or material damage to the journalist or media. From 2007 to 2014, ARTICLE19 has documented 813 physical aggressions against communicators or media. This is the form of violence most frequently committed against the press.

Intimidation/Pressure

Actions that seek to influence the professional labor, editorial profile or line of investigation of the media journalist, communicator, editor, director, or worker in order to prevent him or her from disseminating specific information. From 2007 to 2014, ARTICLE19 has documented 257 acts of intimidation or pressure against the press.

Illegal Deprivation of Liberty

Action by which an individual deprives another person of their liberty without seeking profit (unlike kidnapping, where profit is involved) with the objective of compelling him or her to act or to stop acting a certain way; in the case of journalists, to prevent them from publishing information. From 2007 to 2014, ARTICLE19 has documented 36 cases of this form of aggression.

Torture

Any intentional act where physical or mental suffering is inflicted on a person with the objective of advancing a criminal investigation, as a means of intimidation, as personal punishment, as a preventive measure, as a prison sentence or with any other objective either by government agents or with their tolerance or acquiescence. In 2014, ARTICLE19 documented the case of journalist Edwin Canché, a victim of torture by the mayor and municipal police force of Seyé, Yucatán.
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Adrián López Ortiz is Director of the newspaper Noroeste. In 2014, he was the victim of an assault during which he was wounded by gunshots in both legs, beaten, and robbed of his automobile and other belongings.

Following the aggression against López Ortiz, the State Attorney General of Sinaloa, Marco Antonio Higuera, indicated that the motive behind this incident was robbery, discarding any potential link to Adrián's career as a journalist. 

Over a three-year period, the daily newspaper Noroeste has suffered approximately 80 attacks against its staff and facilities.

 

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Two attacks are registered against Noroeste staff: a newspaper delivery man is forcibly detained, injured with a firearm and divested of the motorcycle he was driving (that was owned by the newspaper). Later that same day, another two delivery men are intercepted by armed individuals who, after asking them where they work, also steal the newspaper's motorcycles.

 

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A Noroeste employee is forcibly detained and threatened with a firearm outside the Ninth Military Zone. The aggressors threaten him, saying, "Noroeste will be your last job."

 

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After two telephone threats, the façade of the Noroeste newspaper building is riddled with bullets in Mazatlán, Sinaloa. Only property damage is reported.

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A vehicle owned by Noroeste is stolen. Five armed individuals aboard a blue Jeep Cherokee force a newspaper employee to surrender the vehicle he is driving.

 

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Three attempts are made against Noroeste on the same day. First, the theft of a delivery vehicle. Then, a newspaper employee is intercepted by a group of five armed men riding two motorcycles who try unsuccessfully to deprive him of his vehicle. Finally, a group of men aboard a white Yukón SUV fire weapons at a sound supervisor from the newspaper, who barely survives the attempt on his life.

 

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A group of armed men break into the home of Fortunato Álvarez Zaragoza1, member of the board of directors at Noroeste. The Álvarez family was present during this breaking and entry. The assailants made their getaway in a Town & Country SUV, taking  some valuables with them. These events occur five days after the newspaper published information regarding a video recording that accused Governor Mario López of having ties to the Sinaloa Cartel.

  

1Governor of the State of Sinaloa (2011-2016). Former Senator of the Republic (2006-2010).
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The newspapers El Mañana of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, El Zócalo of Saltillo, Coahuila, and Noroeste of Sinaloa suffer cybernetic attacks, causing the momentary shutdown of their respective websites.

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Journalists at Noroeste receive telephone threats in which they are warned not to publish information related to the subject of the alleged participation of Mazatlán municipal police in the security entourage of Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera 1, a.k.a. "El Chapo", leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, or they will "suffer the consquences".

1 Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, a.k.a. "El Chapo": the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most powerful organized crime syndicates in the world. He was captured in late February, 2014 during the Enrique Peña Nieto administration. He escaped from prison on July 12, 2015 and remains at large.
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Threats and comments published on different Facebook profiles appear on the Noroeste web portal in order to disaccredit the newspaper. The periodical is accused of maintaining an editorial profile sympathetic to a particular organized crime syndicate, an allegation denied by Noroeste.

Meanwhile, outside Miramar Tower, two women and a civilian wearing a hood are held in custody by marines, who force a photojournalist from Noroeste to erase images taken in public, warning him first that if he fails to do so, the marines will confiscate his photographic equipment. 

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Three journalists from Noroeste are beaten and stripped of their photographic and video equipment during the coverage of marches supporting "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera.

 

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A reporter from Noroeste is arrested by municipal police while covering the homicide of a young woman at Plazuela Machado. He is charged with being allegedly responsible for criminal acts. 

 

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Adrián López Ortiz, General Director of Noroeste, is assaulted, beaten, and shot while on his way home from Culiacán Airport. 

The Attorney General of Sinaloa, Marco Antonio Higuera Gómez1, discards any connections between the motive and the Director of Noroeste's profession, indicating that it was "behavior geared toward the theft of his vehicle."

1 Proposed as State Attorney General of Sinaloa by Governor Mario López Valdez before State Congress in January 2011.
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Three individuals implicated in the assault against Adrián López Ortiz are arrested for the crime of aggravated motor vehicle theft.

 

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The Second Judge of the First Instance hands down a formal prison sentence against Rodrigo Alberto Inzunza Ramírez, age  21, and Joick Joel Carreón Madrigal, age 18, both accused of assaulting Adrián López Ortiz.

 

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Despite identifying himself as an employee of Noroeste, municipal police arrest a photojournalist from the newspaper and through threats, compel him to erase photographs of an operation during which a home was searched without a warrant. The operation had as its objective the capture of a man accused of property damage at the legal offices of the agency for Integral Family Development (DIF).

 

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2010
2015

Adrián López

Adrián López Ortiz is Director of the newspaper Noroeste. In 2014, he was the victim of an assault during which he was wounded by gunshots in both legs, beaten, and robbed of his automobile and other belongings.

Following the aggression against López Ortiz, the State Attorney General of Sinaloa, Marco Antonio Higuera, indicated that the motive behind this incident was robbery, discarding any potential link to Adrián's career as a journalist. 

Over a three-year period, the daily newspaper Noroeste has suffered approximately 80 attacks against its staff and facilities.

 

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