Francisco Castro

H.E. Alvaro Uribe Vélez President of Colombia Nariño Palace Bogotá, Colombia Mr. President, For more than five years now the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has been investigating the murders of journalists in the Americas, in an attempt to do away with the obstacles in the police investigations and legal proceedings that contribute to the guilty – both the perpetrators and the masterminds – going unpunished. Determined to put an end to this apathy and in unison with the international community we take the liberty of calling your attention to the case of radio commentator Francisco Castro Menco, murdered on November 8, 1997, in Majagual, Sucre, who had been threatened by paramilitaries, warning him to cease his defense of peasants in the region. Eleven years have gone by and the Attorney General’s Office has reported that the matter remains in the investigation stage. There have been no arrests. The crime continues to go unpunished. We call, Mr. President, upon your good offices to intervene and have the necessary action taken to solve the murder of Francisco Castro. Those who carried out the murder and those behind it must be punished with the full weight of the law, so that such crimes do not become mere further statistics on impunity in the Americas. Sincerely,