WHEREAS the case of the murder in 1998 of Colombian journalist Nelson Carvajal Carvajal is being processed in the Inter-American Human Rights Court
WHEREAS in their lawsuit (Nelson Carvajal Carvajal and family v. Colombia) before the Inter-American Human Rights Court the IAPA has the legal backing of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Center and the support of experts who have put at the disposition of the proceedings their knowledge and experience
WHEREAS there persists impunity in the cases of murders of journalists and in this period there became subject to statute of limitations the Ernesto Acero (1995) and Alfredo Antonio Matiz (1996) cases and there have only been convictions in 19 cases of the 145 murders occurring since 1977
WHEREAS in the case of Jineth Bedoya – the victim of kidnapping, torture and sexual violence in 2000 while she was carrying out a journalistic investigation – advances are noted following the conviction of two of the assailants
WHEREAS despite the fact that the Guillermo Cano case (a murder that will have its 30th anniversary in December) was declared in 2010 a crime against humanity so that it would not be become subject to statute of limitations no progress in the investigation has been observed
WHEREAS a ruling of the State Council condemned the government for the murder of journalist Efraín Varela in 2002 and declared that there was the complicity of members of the Army with paramilitaries, whom it indicated as those responsible for the crime
WHEREAS Andiarios, Colprensa and the FLIP launched the campaign "Pitalito Without Censorship" that consisted of the publication in 14 newspapers of three journalistic investigations concerning alleged links of local mafias with circles of power said to be connected to the murder of journalist Flor Alba Núñez, whose first anniversary is commemorated on September 10.
WHEREAS Principle 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states "Freedom of expression and of the press are severely limited by murder, terrorism, kidnapping, intimidation, the unjust imprisonment of journalists, the destruction of facilities, violence of any kind and impunity for perpetrators. Such acts must be investigated promptly and punished harshly"
THE IAPA MIDYEAR MEETING RESOLVES
to thank the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Center and all the people and groups that have committed to collaborate and donate their services in order to ensure that the Nelson Carvajal Carvajal proceedings advance in the Inter-American Human Rights Court and have as a final result commitment by the government to put an end to the impunity in this case, compensate the victims and establish legal precedents that enable other crimes that continue unsolved to be dealt with
to urge the government to increase its commitment and make available resources to ensure that acts of violence against journalists – murders, attacks or threats – during the course of their work are condemned in an exemplary and full manner
to ask the authorities to continue advancing in the processing of the assailants of journalist Jineth Bedoya, until indicating who all the perpetrators and masterminds are
to remind the government and the Attorney General's Office of their commitment to continue the quest for justice in the Guillermo Cano case
to welcome the exemplary ruling by the State Council against the behavior of members of the military who contributed to the murder of Efraín Varela
to praise as a gesture of exemplary solidarity the dissemination campaign undertaken by press organizations and replicated by local newspapers on the murder of Flor Alba Núñez, based on investigations carried out by a special group of reporters.
