COLOMBIA

WHEREAS the Colombian Office of the Attorney General has subpoenaed journalists to appear before it on at least three occasions, seeking information that these journalists had obtained in the course of their work WHEREAS the Colombian attorney general openly criticized the media outlets that disseminated security-camera footage of a fireworks explosion in Bogotá, claiming that this type of material should only be turned over to the judicial authorities WHEREAS the Colombian attorney general has, in multiple public statements, expressed hostility toward the work of some journalists WHEREAS in the course of the peace negotiations between the government and the FARC, some FARC members have spoken of “the democratization of the media” WHEREAS Article 1 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states: “No people or society can be free without freedom of expression and of the press. The exercise of this freedom is not something authorities grant, it is an inalienable right of the people.” THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAPA RESOLVES: To urge the Colombian Office of the Attorney General to put an end to its pressuring of journalists and to refrain from subpoenaing journalists for their sources, upholding the constitutional right to the keep one’s sources confidential; and to urge the Colombian attorney general to uphold the full right to freedom of expression To closely monitor any repercussions of the statements made by FARC spokespeople regarding what they called the “democratization of the media,” as these statements may be followed by attempts to restrict freedom of expression and free enterprise in Colombia