Latest murders of journalists in Colombia point to need for effective investigation

In the first four months of the year there have been three murders of journalists in Colombia. It is a figure higher than that in 2006, when in all of that year three journalists were killed because of their work. The IAPA’s Rapid Response Unit has been able to determine that of the three murders this year only that of Clodomiro Castilla, editor and owner of the sports magazine El Pulso del Fútbol in Montería, Córdoba province, committed on March 19, was motivated by his published exposés. However, there are a number of grey areas, which in the absence of swift and effective investigations has meant that those responsible for other killings involving journalists have not been identified and brought to justice. The authorities have yet to determine the motives of the murder of Mauricio Medina Moreno, 50, who was stabbed to death on April 11 in the town of Ortega, Tolima province, and of fellow journalist Oscar Riaño, 75, also fatally stabbed, at his home in Bogotá.