When journalists are killed in connection with their work, public statements by embassies of MFC member countries can play an important role by drawing international attention to specific cases, reiterating expectations of accountability, and reinforcing calls for effective protection measures.
That’s according to Leopoldo Maldonado, Regional Director for the Mexico and Central America region for Article 19, a member of the MFC’s Consultative Network of expert press freedom organisations.
Maldonado described embassy statements not just as symbolic gestures, but as a tool that can increase pressure on the authorities to act. While embassies will make their own decisions about what they can speak publicly about, and whether it is appropriate to do so, he explained that speaking out can “increase the political cost” of failing to investigate killings properly.
Maldonado emphasized how critical speed was in cases of embassies speaking out on journalist killings saying, “…if the embassies speak out and speak loud about what’s happening… it puts much more pressure” on the concerned authorities.
He also explained that when journalists are killed, in some contexts the official response from the authorities can undermine the victim’s reputation or identity as a journalist or suggest “other motives” for their killing. In cases involving women journalists, this can include spreading insinuations shaped by sexism.
In such contexts, he said that while a prompt diplomatic response can’t stop such narratives from spreading, it significantly blunts them.
The reporting connection
Maldonado highlighted the difficulty in cases where it isn’t clear if the journalist was killed because of their work. In this case, he suggested that embassies should thoroughly check what the journalist was working on, whether they have already received threats for their work, and if they are already in a protection mechanism.
To support with this, he emphasized the importance of having an existing network of journalists, which can access “very specific information” from across the country. “It’s very important to have this context of the local reporters, the local journalists,” he added, “to identify the possibility of the link between the assassination and the work of the journalist.”
Embassies of MFC member countries have spoken out in various cases of journalists’ killings. In the Philippines, embassies have published rapid statements on multiple such cases, including Percival Mabasa in 2022 and Cresenciano Bunduquin in 2023. And in Mexico, for example, the British Embassy issued a statement on the killing of Alejandro Gallegos León, calling for the facts to be clarified and justice to be achieved.
Embassies have also spoken up to highlight the lack of accountability in killings long after they have taken place, such as in Cameroon, where a group of MFC member embassies published a joint statement in 2024, one year after the murder of Martinez Zogo, acknowledging efforts to investigate the case while stressing that every effort should be made to bring the perpetrators to justice, and recalling the crucial role of free and independent media in democratic and open societies.
Meanwhile, again in the Philippines, in January 2026 on the 15th anniversary of the murder of journalist Gerry Ortega, the co-leads of the MFC Embassy Network there issued a statement highlighting the need for full accountability.
Commenting on the importance of this ongoing support Dr Patty Ortega, the widow of Gerry Ortega, said in 2025, “The presence of the MFC is a powerful reminder that solidarity knows no borders, especially in the defence of press freedom, justice, and democracy.”
Maldonado emphasised how important it is to keep raising such cases and to ensure they do not fall out of the spotlight: “After the shock of the killing, two, three, four days, one week after that, there’s a lot of attention, but then it vanishes.”
Explaining what makes a good statement, Maldonado states it is most important to “demand independent investigation [and] the improvement of the national and local mechanisms for protection of journalists and human rights.”
As Maldonado argues, the strongest interventions are also the most disciplined: grounded in local context, informed by journalist networks and protection actors, and clear in what they call for: independent investigations, accountability, and stronger safeguards for those at risk.
