RSF - Reporters sans frontières
RSF - Reporters sans frontières
12/29/2025 | Press release | Archived content
Authorities must act after fourth journalist killed in Peru in 2025
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for urgent measures by the Peruvian authorities to end the escalation in violence against media personnel after a reporter died in a Lima hospital on 26 December from injuries sustained in a targeted shooting attack two weeks before. It brings the number of journalists killed in Peru in 2025 to four and makes this the deadliest year for the press in the country in at least 30 years, according to RSF's data.
Mitzar Castillejos Tenazoa, 34, was the second journalist to be killed in Peru in December 2025 as well as the fourth this year. He died from gunshot woundssustained in the town of Aguaytia, in the Peruvian Amazon's Ucayali region, where he was a TV news presenter for Radio Latín Plus 107.7 FMand editor of the news website Bato a Informarte Noticias, often exposing irregularities and corruption involving municipal authorities. He was badly wounded in the abdomen and an arm when gunmen fired on him as he left his home to go to the radio station on 12 December.
"Mitzar Castillejos Tenazoa's murder highlights the Peruvian authorities' failure to protect journalists, while the lack of a clear response in the investigation highlights their failure to combat impunity. After a shocking spate of murders targeting media professionals, the authorities must take urgent measures, conducting thorough, independent and transparent investigations to bring those responsible to justice as quickly as possible, and adopting effective protection mechanisms for journalists, especially at the regional level.
Artur Romeu
Director of RSF's Latin America Bureau
This shooting is part of a worrying surge in violenceagainst the media in Peru, affecting local and investigative journalists in particular. Juan Fernando Núñez Guevara, Gaston Medina Sotomayorand Raúl Celis López were 2025's other fatal victims, while Anthony Rumiche Rodríguezsurvived a murder attempt on 19 December. These cases show a pattern of intimidation targeting journalists investigating corruption, insecurity and organised crime, made possible by a climate of impunity fostered by the government's lack of effective responses.
Published on29.12.2025
RSF - Reporters sans frontières published this content on December 29, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on December 31, 2025 at 18:56 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]