Being a communicator in Brazil requires dedication and courage. Very often communicators face threats from opponents, investigative difficulties and lack of financial resources. This report explores the worst violations faced by Brazil’s communicators: violent attacks and murder. Particularly in small towns and on the peripheries of large cities in Brazil many communicators have been killed to stop their investigations and silence their voices.
ARTICLE 19’s report monitors 22 cases of communicators and journalists killings that took place between 2012 and 2016. It aims to document trends in killings of journalists against Brazil’s background of political and social unrest, publicise cases and shed light on this issue to challenge authorities’ lack of response . The report exposes the extent of violence towards communicators, attacked and killed for their work and the failure of authorities to investigate and prosecute perpetrators.
ARTICLE 19 calls on public authorities to investigate violations and murders of journalists and prevent future attacks. It challenges the Brazilian justice system: its immunity for powerful groups from criminal responsibility and selective approach to prosecution – which almost never prosecutes the real masterminds behind murders of communicators.
Read the full report
Read the press release