Colombia

COLOMBIA Report to the 56th General Assembly Santiago, Chile October 2000 The internal conflict continues to be the source of the most serious threats to press freedom, since guerrilla and paramilitary groups are responsible for most of the threats and attacks on the press. In the past six months, two journalists have been killed because of their work, 17 have been victims of violent acts, five have left the country because of threats and four have been kidnapped. In the legislative field, several bills are being considered that would restrict freedom of information. In the economic area, the government’s proposed tax reform would impose a tax on newsprint and another on the sale of newspapers. If these taxes are approved, many newspapers would be pushed to the brink of bankruptcy. According to a survey by the University of la Sabana, 25 per cent of Colombian editors have been threatened. The poll of 50 editors and news directors of radio networks, television news shows, newspapers and magazines was released by an IAPA mission that visited Colombia. The study showed that 13 per cent of the editors blamed the threats on the guerrillas, 10 per cent on paramilitary groups and 7 per cent on drug traffickers. The IAPA mission, headed by president Tony Pederson, met with the defense minister and the attorney general to discuss the lack of protection for Colombian journalists. The IAPA introduced its newly created Rapid Response Unit to monitor the authorities’ investigations into the murders of journalists in Colombia. The following are the main events affecting press freedom: In March, the body of Professor María Salinas Gallego was found along with those of two ELN guerrillas in the town of San Carlos, Antioquia. Salinas, who taught in the communications department at the University of Medellín, was doing research on violence in Antioquia. Paramilitary or so-called self-defense forces issued death threats against Luis Fernando Múnera, a reporter for Caracol Radio, and Willy Maldonado of Canal 5 television of Palmira, accusing them of being guerrilla sympathizers. Fidias Ospino Fernández, the mayor of El Banco, in Magdalena province, who had been arrested for the murder of journalist Hernando Rangel Moreno on April 11, 1999, was freed by the prosecutor’s office. This dismayed journalists’ organizations because the mayor was one of the first people to be arrested in Colombia for masterminding the murder of a journalist. In April, journalists in Santander province organized a Freedom Day calling on armed groups to end their intimidation, kidnappings and murder of Colombian journalists. Reporter Carlos Andrés Gómez and cameraman Genaro Muñoz of “Ninety Minute News” on Canal Telepacífico were wounded when three dynamite charges placed by the ELN exploded at a guerrilla roadblock on the Pan American Highway April 12. Two armed men attacked the office of the magazine Alternativa in Bogotá and took some of the publication’s material. The attackers locked two journalists in the bathroom and stole computer hard drives and other documents and research material. Alternativa was preparing a report on an alleged far right-wing plot to seize power. In May, Mario Parra, a freelance journalist from Arauco, left the country after his life was threatened. It is believed that guerrilla groups were behind the threats against Parra, who directs a news program on the radio chain Caracol. Antonio Morales, columnist of El Espectador, who had left the country in 1999 because of threats, said editor Carlos Lleras de la Fuente suspended his column after he wrote an ironic commentary about a social club in Bogotá. The attorney general ordered the arrest of two men for the murder of cameramen Alberto Sánchez and Luis Alberto Rincón on November 28 in Santander. The three defendants, all of whom have criminal records, apparently persuaded the journalists to report on local elections in the town of Playón, then killed them. A team of eight journalists from several media outlets was attacked by unidentified assailants while traveling in a boat on the Cimitarra River. Although they were showing their equipment and a white flag, they were shot at twice. No one was wounded, and the attackers were not identified. Jineth Bedoya of El Espectador was detained for several hours on May 18 and beaten by several men who apparently belonged to a self-defense group. The attack occurred when the reporter went to the Modelo prison in Bogotá to report on clashes between guerrillas and members of paramilitary groups. The attorney general’s office accused Carlos Castaño, leader of the United Self-Defense Groups of Colombia (AUC) of the murder of journalist and humorist Jaime Garzón on August 13, 1999. Castaño denied responsibility. In June, reporter María Alejandra González of Cadena Radial Super of Popayán, left the country after being threatened by paramilitary groups. They accused González, who worked for a nongovernmental communications organization, of belonging to a front of the FARC guerrilla group. Ignacio Gómez, director of the Press Freedom Foundation, left the country after being threatened by paramilitary groups. Gómez, investigative editor of El Espectador, is known for his unrelenting criticism of intimidation of the media by armed groups. Raúl Reyes, spokesman for the FARC, said in Madrid that the media do not contribute to peace and journalists are valid kidnap targets. “If a journalist has money he should pay a tax,” Reyes said. He was speaking of the case of Guillermo Cortés, director of the news show “Hora Cero,” who has been held by the FARC for five months. Two men on a motorcycle shot and wounded Eduardo Pilonieta, a columnist for the newspaper Vanguardia Liberal, of Bucaramanga. At this time it is not known who attacked him or why. Front 19 of the FARC seized a truck of the newspaper El Tiempo on the northern coast and burned more than 3,000 newspapers. This is the third time this year that the guerrillas have seized a vehicle carrying copies of the newspaper. Marisol Revelo Barón, a journalist in the province of Nariño, was killed at the door of her house in Tumaco by a hit man who fled on a motorcycle. Everything indicates that the motive of the crime was personal. In July, agents of the attorney general’s office arrested two men who worked for a paramiltary group in the province of César as the killers of Guzmán Quintero Torres, publisher of the newspaper El Pilón de Valledupar, who was murdered on September 16, 1999, in that city. In the months before his death, Quintero Torres harshly criticized police abuses. The investigation to find the mastermind behind the murder of one of the most respected journalists of that region is continuing. In August, 25 legislators were ordered to appear before the Council of State for working in media outlets or writing for them. The council prohibited the legislators from broadcasting radio and television advertisements, and removed Senator Edgar Perea for this reason. The council did not rule on legislators who write opinion columns in newspapers. The army rescued television executive Guillermo Cortés August 14 after he had been held hostage for 205 days. He was kidnapped by the FARC on January 22 at his farm in what was thought to be an effort to send a statement to the government but ended up being a kidnapping for money. The Supreme Court overturned a ruling by judges in the Riohacha court who sought to dictate what the newspaper El Tiempo published. The court held that judges can only intervene in the work of journalists when they are hiding facts or publishing tendentious, false or unfounded information. In no case can they dictate the text of corrections or clarifications. At the same time, the court said journalists cannot be forced to provide the same amount of detail and technical precision as a court decision when they write their articles. Agents of the attorney general’s technical group searched Canal de Televisión RCN. The executives of the television station made a forceful protest and the attorney general disavowed his agents’ procedures. They were attempting to obtain outtakes of an interview with a spokesman of a paramilitary group. The computer hard drive with addresses and personal information about more than 200 journalists who are members of Media for Peace was stolen. It is not known who did it and no one has been arrested. The government announced a special program to protect journalists who are threatened for defending and reporting on human rights. The Interior Ministry will evaluate the level of risk in each case reported by journalists. In September, retired journalist Nicolás Mora Dávila left the country with his family after being told by the FARC that he would have to pay a large sum of money within a week. Mora Dávila was a member of the staff of El Tiempo for many years and president of the Bogotá Journalists Association. Carlos José Restrepo Rocha, editor of the newspaper Tangente, was killed by members of a paramilitary group in Tolima province. His body, with 11 gunshot wounds in the neck and chest, was found with flyers accusing him of aiding the guerrillas. Restrepo, a former member of M-19, was running for a seat on the municipal council in the town where he had founded his newspaper. Hollman Morris, publisher of the Peace Section of El Espectador, left the country after concluding that his life was in danger if he continued to work as a journalist in Colombia. Morris had been covering peace and human rights since 1993. Oscar Cuevas Gamboa, editor of the magazine Latinoamérica Internacional, complained to IAPA that the attorney general had violated human rights and press freedom. The case concerns a 1996 investigation of the importation of dollars by his magazine. Cuevas Gamboa was accused of illicit enrichment and his office was closed. The magazine complained of violation of due process, failure to submit evidence and presentation of false evidence. According to Cuevas Gamboa, the publication is being persecuted because of “serious information the magazine had about the conduct of deputy attorney general Córdoba Triviño.” The Supreme Court ruled that editorial writers and columnists must verify the truth of premises they base their commentaries on when it upheld a court that required the newspaper El Mundo of Medellín to correct an editorial. In March 1993, the court had ruled that courts had no authority over opinions and editorials. But it changed that position when it said it is reasonable to make an exception to this general principle when a media outlet publishes opinions of third parties without identification or support. The court’s contention is that freedom of opinion should respect the principle of truth and impartiality as set forth in the constitution and this is violated when an opinion is based on falsehoods. The court recalled that the media do not have carte blanche to sully a person’s good name and honor. Unidentified assailants shot at Ramón Eduardo Martínez, a correspondent of RCN Televisión, and his cameraman Rafael Guerrero in San Cayetano, Norte de Santader province. The journalists had just recorded information about the resignation of several mayoral candidates in San Cayetano because of threats from paramilitary groups. The journalists’ vehicle was hit by several bullets. There are continuous confrontations between guerrillas and paramilitary groups in this region. The Association of Colombian Newspapers rejected a tax the government wants to impose on newsprint and the sale of newspapers. A statement signed by the country’s main newspapers said the tax, added to the serious drop in advertising during the current economic crisis, would leave many newspapers on the verge of permanent closure. In October, ELN guerrillas kidnapped reporter Andrés Gil and cameraman Gustavo González of Canal RCN . The journalists, who were covering the burning of vehicles by this group on the highway from Bogotá to Medellín, were freed within 24 hours. On October 6 in the same area, the same ELN group kidnapped two journalists from the newspaper El Colombiano― reporter Jaime Horacio and photographer Jesús Abad Colorado. The guerrillas burned the journalists’ vehicle. They were released after 48 hours. Several bills in Congress contain regulations that would seriously restrict press freedom. For example, although corrections are already guaranteed in the Constitution, one proposal would extend the right to request them. Another would regulate journalistic activity with dangerous definitions such as one that states “journalism implies a social risk,” and the establishment of language such as the “conscience clause.” Also included are proposals such as a National Defender of Media Consumers, a United Ethical Council for journalists and other regulations that would threaten the free practice of journalism.