Director-General condemns assassination of photojournalist Edgar Daniel Esqueda Castro in Mexico

The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today called for an investigation into the murder of freelance journalist Edgar Daniel Esqueda Castro, who was found dead in San Luis Potosí, in Mexico, on 6 October.

“I condemn the assassination of Edgar Daniel Esqueda Castro,” said the Director-General. “I call on the authorities to spare no effort in investigating this crime, which undermines the rights to free expression and information.”

Esqueda Castro was last seen alive on 5 October when unidentified men forced him to leave his home at gun point. He had been a freelance photographer for local media including Metropoli San Luis and Vox Populi and also run a website entitled Infórmate Potosino.

The Director-General of UNESCO issues statements on the killing of media workers in line with Resolution 29 adopted by UNESCO Member States at the Organization’s General Conference of 1997, entitled “Condemnation of Violence against Journalists.” These statements are posted on a dedicated webpage, UNESCO condemns the killing of journalists

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Media contact: Sylvie Coudray, s.coudray@unesco.org, +33 (0)1 45 68 42 12

UNESCO is the United Nations agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. Article 1 of its Constitution requires the Organization to “further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.” To realize this the Organization is requested to “collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image…”