MIAMI, Florida (June 5, 2015)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today expressed regret that Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya will have to relive her experience of horror, violence and humiliation during her abduction, after one of her alleged kidnappers was released from jail, adding to other cases of attacks and murders that continue to go unpunished in Colombia.
The Colombian Attorney General’s Office this week freed former paramilitary Alejandro Cardenas for lack of evidence. Cardenas had confessed to taking part in the kidnapping of the journalist 15 years ago, although he later retracted. On May 25, 2000, Bedoya was abducted outside the main entrance to the La Modelo prison in Bogotá while she was carrying out a journalistic investigation into arms trafficking in the prison. Bedoya, who identified Cardenas as one of her attackers, was subjected to violation and torture during her kidnapping, which lasted for 16 hours. Another two individuals remain in jail in connection with the incident.
IAPA President Gustavo Mohme condemned “the climate of impunity in Colombia, not only concerning this case but also numerous others that involve murders of journalists.” After learning that Bedoya will be appealing the decision Mohme, editor of the Lima, Peru, newspaper La República, declared, “It is unacceptable that given the lack of effectiveness of the justice system Bedoya has to relive such a traumatic situation that should already have been resolved.”
Claudio Paolillo, chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, added, “Indeed attacks such as that on Jineth Bedoya that remain unresolved and unpunished, led an IAPA delegation to visit Bogotá in February this year to meet with President Juan Manuel Santos.” On that occasion Santos acknowledged that impunity is a serious problem in his country and promised to introduce improvements so as to give priority to unsolved cases, recalled Paolillo, editor of the Montevideo, Uruguay, weekly Búsqueda.
The IAPA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 print publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida. For more information please go to http://www.sipiapa.org.
