Colombia's record-breaking history of dealing with journalists, and dissidents, and peace workers, etc.
From the last year, a very brief look at a
tiny bit of journalism news in Venezuela's next door neighbor, the paramilitary-connected government of Alvaro Uribe:
Colombian journalist shot dead by unidentified gunman
March 22, 2010 5:45 PM ET
New York, March 22, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Colombian authorities to fully investigate the death of journalist Clodomiro Castilla Ospino, left, who was shot on Friday by an unidentified gunman in the northern city of Montería, according to local press reports.
Castilla, 50, editor and publisher of local newsmagazine El Pulso del Tiempo, was reading a book outside his home in Montería around 9 p.m., when an unidentified gunman shot him at least eight times, local press reports said. A second man picked up the attacker and they reportedly fled on a motorcycle. Castilla died at the scene of the crime.
According to local journalists who spoke to CPJ, Castilla had received numerous threats for at least four years in retaliation for his coverage of the links among local politicians, landowners, and illegal right-wing paramilitary groups.
Local press freedom group Foundation for the Press Freedom (FLIP) said in a statement Saturday that from 2006 to 2009 the Colombian Government had given Castilla protection due to the abundant threats against him. In November 2009, however, the Ministry of Interior denied Castilla protection based on procedural safety studies by the national intelligence agency that indicated he was no longer under threat, according to FLIP.
A local journalist, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, told CPJ that shortly before his death, Castilla had reported on the alleged participation of a local landowner in the murder of a Montería-based lawyer, corruption in local government agencies, and the supposed links between paramilitaries and local government officials. CPJ research has found that most local journalists don’t cover similar issues for fear of reprisal.
The local press reported that the Colombian National police, in charge of the investigation, has not yet disclosed possible motives or identified any suspects.
“We call on Colombian authorities to promptly and thoroughly investigate the killing of Clodomiro Castilla Ospino, and we ask them to examine whether the Ministry of Interior ended his protection prematurely,” said Robert Mahoney, CPJ’s deputy director. “Provincial reporters are particularly at risk and often refrain from reporting on sensitive subjects. Castilla courageously did not practice self-censorship, and his murder highlights the need for authorities to show their commitment to protecting the press.”
Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez condemned the killing and offered a reward of 50 millions Colombian pesos (US$26,000) for information on the crime, the local press reported.
In its 2009 year-end analysis, CPJ found that at least 68 journalists worldwide were killed for their work during the year, the highest yearly tally ever documented by the organization. One of the year’s victims was Colombian journalist José Everardo Aguilar, 72, a correspondent for Radio Súper in the southern city of Patía, who was shot to death inside his home on April 29. He was known for his harsh criticism of corruption and making links between local politicians and right-wing paramilitary groups.
More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62J1Y220100320~~~~~UN report highlights journalist murders in Colombia
Wednesday, 24 March 2010 14:21 Cameron Sumpter
http://colombiareports.com.nyud.net:8090/pics/2010/03/libertad_prensa.jpg A new report by UNESCO, the UN's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, highlights threats to journalists in Colombia, noting that four reporters were killed in the country in the last four years, reports AFP.
The report, titled "The Safety of Journalists and the Risk of Impunity," which will be published Thursday, shows that Colombia has seen more journalists murdered in the last four years than Brazil, which had three murders; El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Venezuela, which each had two; and Honduras which had one.
Mexico had the highest number of journalist killings, with eleven over the period.
The report expresses alarm that most reporters killed around the world last year were not operating in war zones, but were rather covering local news stories on corruption, human rights abuses and drug trafficking.
"Unfortunately, the frequency of violence against journalists is increasing and this poses a grave threat to freedom of expression and to our ability to seek the truth," says the UNESCO report.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/8847-unesco-alarmed-by-increasing-viloence-towards-journalists.html~~~~~Thursday, 25 March 2010
Murdered Colombian Journalist Had Asked Police for Better Protection: Radio Station Owner
IPI Speaks to Rafael Gomez, owner and director of La Voz de Monteria
By Nayana Jayarajan, Communications Officer
VIENNA, 24 March 2010: Colombian radio journalist Clodomiro Castilla was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on 19 March. Castilla, editor of the Colombian magazine El Pulso del Tiempo and an announcer and reporter with local radio station La Voz de Monteria (www.vozmonteria.com), was reading on the terrace of his home when a gunman on a motorcycle shot him several times and then fled. Castilla was known for his reporting on politicians with links to paramilitary death squads. According to The Washington Post, he had received death threats in the past.
The Colombia-based Foundation for Press Freedom (Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa) said that since 2006, Castilla had been part of the Programme for Protection of Journalists of the Ministry of Interior and Justice. In 2009, his bodyguards were withdrawn after an apparent request by Castilla to reassess his security scheme was allegedly refused by the Programme for Protection of Journalists.
More:
http://www.freemedia.at/singleview/4849/~~~~~Indigenous journalist stabbed to death in western Colombia
Tuesday, 13 April 2010 12:13 Alex Hocking
Home News News Indigenous journalist stabbed to death in western Colombia
Indigenous journalist stabbed to death in western Colombia
Tuesday, 13 April 2010 12:13 Alex Hocking
Indigenous journalist Mauricio Moreno Medina, the founding member of a community radio station for the Pijao indigenous people, was murdered Sunday by unknown assailants in his home, in the town of Ortega in Colombia's western Tolima department, reports Reuters.
Medina, 50, died of multiple knife wounds.
Police investigating the murder said they did not suspect a link with any illegal armed groups. They confirmed that Moreno had not received any death threats.
Reporters Without Borders (RWB) suggest that the murder was more than a "crime of passion" as police concluded.
"The label “crime of passion” is too often used to avoid investigation of any link with the victim’s work, even to the extent of covering up a case. This has already happened in several other murders of journalists in Colombia," RWB said.
"As a director of a community radio, the kind of media often targeted by the authorities, particularly in conflict areas, Medina ran risks as a result of his work," said RWB.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/9127-journalist-slain-in-western-colombia.html~~~~~Self-censorship threatens journalism in Colombia
31.07.2009
Colombia's on-going civil conflict over the last 50 years and drug-related crime has claimed many victims. One of these is the state of free and independent media in the country. Speaking from her office in Bogotá, Ms. Paola Valderrama, Coordinator of the IMS-funded alliance of media organisations Proyecto Antonio Nariño (PAN), discusses the challenges facing the Colombian media in a fragile democracy
As the only media alliance in Colombia, PAN's role is to map out all the organisations and activities that support media and freedom of expression in Colombia to ensure coordination, collaboration and a stronger impact.
Safety a major concern
- Self-censorship is the biggest challenge facing Colombian media today, a result of the lack of physical safety for journalists, weak economic support of media and a deeply rooted culture of secrecy, says Ms. Paola Valderrama.
- Safety continues to be the main concern. Because of the conflict, travelling in the countryside and reporting from different regions can be dangerous. Part of PAN's role as an alliance promoting the rights of journalists, freedom of information and access to information, is to improve the conditions for journalistic practices.
According to a May 2009 report about media in Colombia from Reporters without Borders, the number of murdered journalists has fallen during Alvaro Uribe's seven year presidency, but journalists continue to be forced into exile by paramilitaries. (
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/49fea98428.html).
Local journalists are still vulnerable to reprisals from armed groups, wiretapping of their phones and emails and suffer death threats. Self-censorship by journalists is thought to have been a factor in the reduction of murder rate.
- Currently, the illegal interception of phone calls, e-mails and private activities of journalists is increasing. A strong debate on why state intelligence is intercepting people who are not involved in legal processes and the implications this has for journalistic work is urgent.
Defamation is penalising Columbia
Defamation is a crime in Colombia, but rather than jailing journalists, there is a stronger tendency for accusers to harass journalists about their coverage of political issues. According to Ms. Valderrama, the result is self-censorship in the media which affects journalistic products and thus penalises the Colombian citizens, leaving them with poorer channels of information.
- Sometimes defamation cases have been a good mechanism to ensure truthful, wholesome journalism, but in many cases defamation suits are also used by the accusers to divert attention from what is often the truth. The judicial procedures cost time and money for media outlets, she says.
More:
http://www.i-m-s.dk/article/self-censorship-threatens-journalism-colombia
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