Freelance cameraman Arturo Perez covers the bloody drugs war in Mexico's most violent city of Ciudad Juarez. 

He took the bold decision to base himself there in 2008 as the wave of violence, sparked by drug wars, started to engulf the city and has provided a wealth of stories on the city’s gruesome drugs violence. In 2009, some 2,750 people were killed in Juarez and it is estimated that by the end of 2010, the body count will reach 3,000.

“Arturo has captured with his camera shocking images which document the massacres, attacks, disappearances and car bombs which have left thousands of victims in a city which has become the battle ground for criminal gangs”, says Manuel Carrillo, Senior Producer at Reuters Television in Mexico, who nominated Arturo for the Prize. “Despite threats and intimidation from these gangs and even from the security forces, Arturo has remained strong and unfailing in his coverage – mindful of the fact that in Mexico, other journalists have been killed just for fulfilling their duty to keep society informed”.

Since 2006, at least 30 journalists and media workers have been killed in Mexico, according to the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Dozens more have been attacked, kidnapped or forced into exile, making it one of the world's most dangerous countries for the media.

Left: Arturo Perez receives his prize from Alan Reardon of Atex