WHEREAS that on April 23, 2025, a Friendly Settlement Agreement (FSA) was signed regarding the case of journalist and poet Julio Daniel Chaparro Hurtado and photojournalist Jorge Enrique Torres Navas, who were murdered on April 24, 1991, in Colombia
WHEREAS that on April 23, 2025, a Friendly Settlement Agreement (FSA) was signed regarding the case of journalist and poet Julio Daniel Chaparro Hurtado and photojournalist Jorge Enrique Torres Navas, who were murdered on April 24, 1991, in Colombia
WHEREAS that the emotional ceremony, held in Bogotá, was attended by the families of the journalists, representatives of the State, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), as well as the Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP) and the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), organizations that promoted the case before the Inter-American Human Rights System
WHEREAS that, as stated in the FSA, "The Colombian State acknowledges its international responsibility for the violation of rights established in Articles 8 (judicial guarantees) and 25 (judicial protection), in relation to Articles 4 (life), 5 (personal integrity), and 13 (freedom of thought and expression) of the American Convention, with respect to Article 1.1 (obligation to respect rights) of the same instrument, to the detriment of Julio Daniel Chaparro Hurtado, Jorge Enrique Torres Navas, and their families"
WHEREAS that the families placed their trust in the participation and efforts made by FLIP and IAPA before the IACHR and with representatives of the Colombian State to advance this case
WHEREAS that the crimes remain unresolved after 34 years, and that the violation of guarantees for the murdered journalists extends to the right of their families to know the truth and achieve justice, as well as the journalists' right to enjoy guarantees for exercising free and safe journalism
WHEREAS that, as expressed by Daniel Chaparro Díaz in his message, son of the journalist and poet, they still have no answer regarding "what were the consequences of that double homicide in Segovia," and that he also reflected on "how to measure the breadth of that silence." Diana Torres Mora, daughter of the photographer, remembered that 34 years ago was the last time they had a family moment before Torres and Chaparro went out to work and were silenced
WHEREAS that impunity in murders of journalists and violence restrict freedom of expression and the press, and authorities have the responsibility to clarify crimes against journalists, as stated in our Declaration of Chapultepec, in its fourth principle.
THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES
To acknowledge the willingness of the Colombian State, through the National Agency for Legal Defense of the State, to reach an agreement with the victims and their families that includes measures of satisfaction, compensation, justice, and the commitment of the State to ensure non-repetition of these events
To applaud the signing ceremony of the agreement and urge full compliance with all measures included in the FSA.
