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Freedom of Expression

Colombia

Assassinations

 

22.        On January 30, 2002, Orlando Sierra Hernández, assistant editor of the daily La Patria in Manizales, department of Caldas, was shot in front of the newspaper's offices.  He died two days later.  Mr. Sierra was one of the most influential journalists in the region.  He wrote a column called Punto de encuentro, in which he critically analyzed issues of national and regional concern, including cases of corruption.  In his weekly columns, Mr. Sierra also criticized leftist rebels and a right-wing paramilitary group.  Luis Fernando Soto ultimately pled guilty to the murder and was sentenced by a Special Judge of Manziales (Juez Especializado de Manziales) to 19 and a half years in prison.  In May 2002, authorities also arrested Luis Arley Ortiz Orozco, on suspicion of having been the intermediary between those who ordered the crime and those who carried it out.  The Attorney General's Office is also investigating Francisco Antonio Quintero Torres upon suspicion that he heads the gang of assassins of which Mr. Soto was a part.  The intellectual authors of the crime have not been apprehended.[1]

 

23.        On April 11, 2002, two members of a news crew from RCN Televisión were shot while covering fighting between the Colombian army and leftist rebels.  Wálter López, the crew's driver, died on the scene and Héctor Sandoval, a cameraman, died the next day from the wounds he had received.  The news crew came under fire in a mountainous region outside the southwestern city of Cali where the army was pursuing fighters from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).  According to a witness from another media organization, the journalists had decided to turn back when an army helicopter hovering above opened fire on their vehicle, hitting López.  The witness stated that the letters "RCN" were marked in large, bright colors on the roof and both sides of the vehicle.  The journalists tried to signal the helicopter for help by waving white T-shirts in the air.  Fifteen minutes after López was shot, a bullet from the helicopter hit Sandoval.  The army has opened an investigation into the killings.  The head of the anti-abduction force, Colonel Carlos Arévzlo denies that the army was responsible and asserts that the journalists were attacked by the FARC.[2]

 

24.        On June 28, 2002, Efraín Varela Noriega, owner of Radio Meridiano 70, was murdered.  Mr. Varela was driving home from a university graduation in Arauca Department, along with his sister and brother-in-law, when their car was intercepted by a white truck.  Several heavily armed men forced the journalist to get out of his car, which was marked with the insignia of Radio Meridiano 70, and shot him in the face and chest.  Mr. Varela's sister and brother-in-law were unharmed.  Mr. Varela was the host of two news and opinion programs at Radio Meridiano 70, in which he frequently criticized all sides fighting in Colombia's 38-year civil conflict.  Less than a week before the killing, Varela told listeners during his morning news show that fighters from the paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) had arrived in Arauca and were patrolling the streets in the town, which is on the border with Venezuela.  In addition to being a journalist, Mr. Varela was an attorney, teacher, and social leader with a particular interest in peace and conflict resolution and human rights.  Mr. Varela's professional activities had made him a frequent object of threats from both the paramilitaries and the guerillas.  His name had appeared in a list of people declared "military objectives" by the paramilitaries of the AUC.  In the months before his death, Varela had begun warning his family and colleagues that his life could be in danger.  According to his widow, Mr. Varela had received threats as recently as two days before his death.  The Human Rights Unit of the Attorney General's Office (La Unidad de Derechos Humanos de la Fiscalía de la Nación) has assumed the investigation of the case.[3]

 

25.        On July 11, 2002, Mario Prada Díaz, the founder and director of the monthly newspaper Horizonte Sabanero (later renamed Horizonte del Magdalena Medio) in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia, was abducted from his house in the municipality of Sabana de Torres.  The next morning, his body was found riddled with gunshots not far from his home.  The motives for the killing and the possible perpetrators are unclear.  There was no indication that the journalist had received any threats prior to his death.  Prada's newspaper is dedicated to covering cultural, social, and community development issues.  The paper had written about financial irregularities involving the municipal administration of Sabana de Torres just a week earlier.  Additionally, a week before Prada's murder, the head of a right-wing paramilitary force in the region had warned that his group would begin killing journalists.  The place where his body was found is located in a zone that has been in constant dispute by the Front 22 of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the Vásquez Chacón Front of the National Liberation Army (ELN), and the Central Block of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).[4]

 

26.        On July 11, 2002, Elizabeth Obando, who was responsible for the distribution of the regional newspaper El Nuevo Día in Roncesvalles municipality, Tolima department, was shot.  Obando was travelling on a bus in Playarrica, Tolima department when unknown armed men intercepted the vehicle, forced her to get out and minutes later shot her several times.  She died two days later from the injuries.  Angela Yesenia Bríñez, the municipality's spokesperson, was also killed.  The 21st division of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is believed to be responsible for the attack.  Ms. Obando had previously been threatened by "Donald," leader of the FARC's 21st division, because of a September 21, 2001 article published in El Nuevo Día criticizing the FARC.[5] 

 

Threats and Aggression

 

27.        On January 30, 2002, a car bomb exploded in front of the Canal Caracol television station studios, in Bogotá's La Soledad neighborhood, resulting in extensive damage to the station and surrounding buildings.  No one was injured.  The incident occurred at 4:15 a.m. (local time), after three men abandoned the vehicle, which was loaded with approximately 30 kilograms of dynamite.  According to Police Colonel Rubén Jaramillo, the assailants fired shots at a local police post before carrying out the attack.  Initial findings reportedly pointed to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla movement as likely being responsible for the attack.[6]

 

28.        In March 2002, seven journalists who have covered high-profile criminal investigations for major Colombian media organizations were threatened with death and given three days to leave the country.  The threats were communicated in two letters that were styled after funeral notices and contained all of the journalists’ names.  The first letter was received by RCN Televisión on March 1.  Caracol Televisión received an identical letter three days later.  The threatened journalists are: Jairo Lozano, reporter for the daily El Tiempo; Juan Carlos Giraldo, senior correspondent for RCN Televisión; Julia Navarrete, correspondent for Caracol Televisión; Jairo Naranjo, correspondent for RCN Radio; Hernando Marroquín, correspondent for Caracol Radio; Marilyn López, correspondent for Noticias Uno; and José Antonio Jiménez, a former correspondent for TV Hoy, which recently folded.  All seven journalists had covered high-profile drug investigations for their news organizations. The Attorney General's Office is investigating the threats.  The journalists have been provided with bodyguards through the Interior Ministry's Program for the Protection of Journalists and Social Communicators.  At least three of them are currently in hiding within Colombia and some have temporarily left the country.[7]

 

29.        In March 2002, the Office of the Special Rapporteur received information that newspaper columnist Fernando Garavito had recently fled Colombia after a series of events that made him fear for his life.  Garavito, who writes a Sunday column for the Bogotá-based newspaper El Espectador, left Colombia for the United States on March 21.  In a series of columns, Garavito attacked the right-wing United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).  He also wrote about the upcoming May 2002 presidential election, describing then-front-running presidential candidate Álvaro Uribe as an ultra-right candidate whose election would be dangerous for the country.  Garavito began having problems soon after the columns appeared.  His name appeared in a communiqué published by the AUC criticizing the Colombian press.[8]

 

30.        On March 25, 2002 Cesar Mauricio Velásquez, dean of the Sabana University Faculty of Communications and Journalism, received a telephone call warning him of a planned attack against a number of journalists in Bogotá.  The caller, who identified himself as a retired army sergeant, said he was calling to warn Velásquez about a plan to assassinate journalists believed to be "Colombia's enemies."  Velásquez's name was included on one of the lists of journalists to be killed.  The name of journalist Carlos Pulgarín also figures on the list.  Velásquez received another similar call on April 8.  In addition to the threats, Velásquez also reported that on April 6, as he was heading home, a vehicle tried to block his way and corner him.  A similar incident occurred on April 8, but on both occasions he was able to escape his pursuers.  Velásquez is unsure of the reason that he is being targeted.  As faculty dean, Velásquez oversees the Media Watch (Observatorio de Medios) project, which analyzes various issues affecting the media.  One of the project's reports, published in Semana magazine during the first week of February, featured journalists who cover the conflict reflecting on who is responsible for intimidating the Colombian press.  Velásquez is also a reporter for the Hora Cero television news program.  Velásquez notified authorities and the other journalists about the alleged plot. The Interior Ministry's Program for the Protection of Journalists and Social Communicators has provided him with a bodyguard.[9]

 

31.        On April 4, 2002 Carlos José Lajud, of the works for the Bogotá station Citytv, received a threatening letter at the Citytv offices.  "Our sincere condolences...for the death of Carlos Lajud," read the note.  The letter accused the journalist of serving the interests of Colombia's ruling class, declared him and his family military targets, and demanded that he leave the country within three days.  Since February, Lajud has produced some 20 investigative reports claiming that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the smaller National Liberation Army (ELN) have established armed cells in the capital.  The letter was the most serious of several threats against Lajud that began in late February, just three days after his reports on the new urban guerrilla groups began to air.  Lajud claims not to know the source of the threats.  The journalist was provided with a bodyguard by the Interior Ministry's Program for the Protection of Journalists and Social Communicators.  Lajud and his wife Patricia Busigo left Colombia on July 16 as a safety precaution.  Lajud is the son of the late radio journalist Carlos Alfonso Lajud Catalán.  In 1993, Catalán was shot and killed after he publicly accused a local mayor of corruption.[10]

 

32.        On April 7, 2002, two bombs exploded near the Radio Super station in Villavicencio, the capital of Metadepartment.  The explosions killed twelve people, injured seventy, and caused material damage to the station and other surrounding buildings.  The authorities suspect that guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are responsible for the attack.  It was not clear whether the attack was directed at the radio station or against the public in general.  Presidential candidate Álvaro Uribe suggested that the blast was directed at the Radio Super station for having transmitted his speeches.  The radio station was contracted to transmit live Uribe's visit and began to receive threats after promotional spots advertising the upcoming broadcast were aired.  The radio station went ahead with the broadcast despite the threats.[11]

 

33.        On April 12, 2002, a rocket exploded near the studios of RCN Televisión in Bogotá.  Local authorities said the station was intentionally targeted.  The blast destroyed a brick wall surrounding a building located less than 40 feet from the station in an industrial neighborhood in south Bogotá, according to a spokesman for the city's police department.  There were no victims.  The rocket was apparently fired at a range of less than 1,000 feet (300 meters) from the station by a man who was driven to the area on the back of a motorcycle.  No one was injured in the attack, which authorities blamed on the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).[12]

 

34.        On April 22 and 23, unidentified men threatened to kill television journalist Daniel Coronell and his 3-year-old daughter.  Coronell, news director of Noticias Uno, a current affairs program on the Bogotá TV station Canal Uno, received threatening calls on his cellular phone at his home and office after he aired an investigative report examining possible links between the country's leading presidential candidate, Álvaro Uribe Vélez, and drug traffickers.  The report also questioned whether Uribe gave his father preferential treatment when he was director of the Civil Aeronautics Department by accelerating the granting of a license for a helicopter that belonged to a company that his father co-owned.  In addition to the threats received by Coronell, Ignacio Gómez, director of investigations at Noticias Uno, received numerous death threats after the reports were aired.  Coronell reported the threats to police and sent his daughter out of the country with relatives.[13]

 

 

35.        On May 6, 2002, Mauricio Amaya and Diego Burgos, two drivers for the television station Caracol were kidnapped in the municipality of Santa Cecilia, near the border of Chocó and Risaralda departments.  Amaya and Burgos were travelling in vehicles belonging to Caracol to pick up a team of journalists.  The captors identified themselves as members of the Ejército Revolucionario Guevarista, a dissident group of the National Revolutionary Army (ELN).  The captors accused television stations of belonging to the economically powerful groups in the country and stated that "the war is changing, and everyone is playing a role in it."  The two men were released 48 hours later.[14]

 

36.        On May 14, 2002, Carlos Pulgarín, a journalism professor at the Universidad de La Sabana in Bogotá, left the country out of concern for his safety.  He had suffered repeated incidents of threats and intimidation, apparently resulting from his exposés of violence perpetrated by Colombia's warring factions.  On March 14, 2002, his birthday, Pulgarín received a phone call from an unidentified man who told him to enjoy his birthday because it would be his last.  On March 19, Pulgarín received a phone call from someone identifying himself as a retired army sergeant who warned of plan to kill him and other journalists.  Later that day, he received another call, this time the caller stated that the plot would be carried out by paramilitaries and members of the army.  He received another similar call on April 8.  On May 8, 2002, he was threatened by two men who approached him as he was walking toward the bus stop to go to work.  The men also asked him to deliver a threatening message to César Mauricio Velásquez, the dean of the Universidad de La Sabana's department of social communication and journalism.  Pulgarín said that the same men had harassed and threatened him on several previous occasions since 2001.[15]

 

37.        On May 16, 2002, journalists Nidia Álvarez Mariño and Ramón Vásquez Ruiz of the Santa Marta-based daily Hoy Diario del Magdalena and their driver, Vladimir Revolledo Cuisman, were abducted in Magdalena by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).  The reporters had been traveling to a town south of Santa Marta to cover stories on a local court case and on satanic cults when they unknowingly drove into a rebel roadblock near Ciénaga, about 420 miles (670 kilometers) from Bogotá.  The rebels kidnapped nine other people in addition to the reporters and the driver.  Álvarez was freed unharmed the following morning, but the rebels continued to hold Vásquez and Revolledo.  Several days after the abduction, the newspaper received a demand for the equivalent of U.S. $250,000 and the publication of a four-page communiqué in exchange for the release of Vásquez and Revolledo.  The communiqué apparently analyzed the current political situation in Colombia and lambasted the paramilitary army.  The newspaper did not comply with the abductors' demands, but offered instead to publish an interview with a FARC commander.  However, both Vásquez and Revolledo were ultimately released unharmed without any action taken by the station.  Revolledo was released on May 24 and Vásquez was released on May 28.[16]

 

38.  On June 29, 2002, the radio station Meridiano 70, in the city of Arauca, capital of Arauca department, received two telephone calls in which death threats were made against journalist Josédil Gutiérrez.  These threats came only 19 hours after the director and owner of the station, Efraín Alberto Varela Noriega, had been murdered.[17]  The caller identified himself as a member of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) and gave the journalist 24 hours to leave the city.  Mr. Gutiérrez chose to stay out of fear that his family members could be in danger of retaliation if he were to leave.  He requested protection from the State, however, the Office of the Special Rapporteur has no information as to whether or not this was granted.  Mr. Gutiérrez, who has over ten years of experience as a journalist in local and national media, had been working with Mr. Varela on the program Hablemos de Política, which, over the course of the month, had been presenting different points of view on the candidates for governor of the department.[18] 

 

39.  On June 30, 2002, Luis Eduardo Alfonso, another Meridiano 70 journalist, decided that it was necessary for him to flee the city when his name appeared on a list of individuals targeted for assassination by the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).  On March 9, he had also received a threatening telephone call from someone claiming to be with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).  The threat was apparently related to the station's coverage of the presidential elections.[19] 

 

40.  On July 3, 2002, Astrid María Legarda Martínez, a correspondent who covers the conflict in Colombia for independent RCN Televisión, fled the country after learning that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was plotting to kill her in reprisal for her coverage of the conflict.  She had reported on the fighting between paramilitaries and guerrilla groups and conducted interviews with paramilitaries of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).  Legarda learned of the alleged plan from a source in a high-security prison in Bogotá.  She declined to identify her source but described him as reliable and said that he has connections to the FARC.[20]

 

41.  On July 8, 2002, four employees of the RCN Radio and Radio Caracol stations were kidnapped, allegedly by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas.  The kidnapped media workers were: Luis Eduardo Perdomo and José Rodríguez, a driver and technician for RCN Radio, respectively, along with Oscar González and Elio Fabio Giraldo, a technician and driver for Radio Caracol.  The incident occurred while they were reporting on the national long-distance bicycle race, in Tolima department.  All four individuals were released unharmed on July 11, but their equipment and vehicles were not returned to them.[21]

 

42.  Also on July 8, 2002, United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) paramilitaries threatened the newspapers published in Barrancabermeja, Santander department.  The threats were delivered by Commander "Alex," of the AUC central block, who stated in an interview printed in the July 8 edition of Vauguardia Liberal: "Either [the press] stops toying with the community's pain, or we will find ourselves in the unfortunate position of having to execute someone, so that they understand the people's pain."  According to "Alex," the threats stem from the "sensationalistic" way in which local media report in the Barrancabermeja port.  The oil-producing region is disputed territory between the AUC and the guerrillas.  There are four weeklies published in Barrancabermeja: La Noticia, El Vocero, La Tarde de Santander and Periódico 7 días.[22]

 

43.  On July 9, 2002, two unidentified gunmen accosted Anyela Muñoz, owner of the weekly El Vocero, on a street in Barrancabermeja.  The gunmen told her that if this week's issue of her paper were published, someone was going to die.  She refused to stop production of the paper, instead reporting the incident to the local Human Rights Ombudsman (Defensoría del Pueblo) and the National Police.  The Police have placed a guard outside of the newspaper's offices and have provided Muñoz with personal protection.[23]

 

44.  On July 19, 2002, a threatening letter was delivered to the offices of the RCN news program in Cali, Valle del Cauca department.  It listed eight journalists who were given 72 hours to leave the city or face being declared "military targets."  The letter was signed by the Manuel Cepeda Vargas urban militia, western division of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas.  The journalists named in the letter were: Albeiro Echavarría, of the Noti5 television station newscast; Álvaro Miguel Mina, reporter for Radio Caracol; Luis Eduardo Reyes, director of a program broadcast on RCN Radio; Diego Martínez Lloreda, assistant editor of the daily El País; Humberto Briñez and Wilson Barco, correspondents for the RCN television station; Hugo Palomar, of Caracol Televisión, and columnist Mario Fernando Prado.  The journalists were accused of being "puppets of President Pastrana's military regime" and "enemies of the people who defend the interests of the oligarchy."  The letter ends by referring to the journalists as "liars who lack in professional ethics."  A number of the journalists on the list have previously received threats or been victims of intimidation.  In addition to the threats against the journalists, the letter reiterated threats against several local officials.  The authorities do not believe that the letter is authentic.  In a similar incident, on July 18, 2002, a letter signed "FARC Secretariat" was received at the offices of Radio Super, in Bogotá.  The note claimed that the newscasts of the Caracol and RCN radio and television stations had been declared "military targets."  The authenticity of this letter was not confirmed or denied by authorities.  [24]

 

45.  On July 23, 2002, journalists Jorge Carvahalo Betancur, former director of Todelar in Antioquia, and Fernando Vera Ángel, director of Radioperiódico Clarín, a regional news program specializing in political news, were wounded by an attack with explosives in a cafeteria in Medellín.  In the same attack, Hildebrando Giraldo Parra, a former congressman and former manager of the Energy Company of Medellín (Empresa de Energía de Medellín), was killed.  Council member Fabio Estrada Chica and four other were also injured.  The cafeteria was a popular gathering place for politicians and journalists, including Carvahalo and Vera, to meet each day to discuss local political issues.  The motive of the attack is still unclear, although it was believed to have been aimed at some politicians who were present that day.[25]  

 

46.  On July 29, 2002, a threatening e-mail message was sent to Radio Meridiano-70 and to Caracol Televisión correspondent Rodrigo Ávila.  The writer of the e-mail accuses press members and media owners in the Arauca Department of flouting justice and warns that they could be declared military targets.  The Arauca Liberators Block of the paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) signed the letter.  Ávila, Caracol's correspondent in Arauca, said he has received at least 10 threats by telephone during the last week and has hired a bodyguard with financial help from a private human rights group in Colombia.  He said repeated requests for protection from the previous government and the new government of President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, who took office August 7, have gone unanswered.  Evelyn Varela, manager of Meridiano-70 and daughter of the late journalist Efraín Varela, who was assassinated on June 28, 2002, said she reported the e-mail message to local authorities, who have not responded.[26]

 

47.  On August 6, 2002, an El Tiempo news crew was kidnapped in the municipality of Mistrató, Risaralda department.  Abducted were legal affairs editor Iván Noguera, photographer Héctor Fabio Zamora, and their driver, John Henry Gómez.  The news crew was travelling in the area to report on local indigenous groups caught in the conflict between leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitaries in the region.  They were intercepted on the highway by heavily armed individuals, members of the Aurelio Rodríguez Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas.  The guerrillas forced the three individuals to walk into the mountains for two hours, where they were held overnight.  The guerrillas reproached the journalists for the way in which the media refer to them as terrorists.  They were released on the following day but did not arrive in Pereira, where the newspaper's offices are located, until August 8.[27]

 

48.  On September 17, 2002, Edgar Buitrago Rico, founder and director of the monthly Revista Valle 2000, fled the city of Cali in fear for his life after receiving repeated death threats since May.  The latest threat to Buitrago came in late August in a letter sent to the local press and politicians in Cali.  It was signed by the Committee for the Rescue of Cali, a group that authorities believe was fabricated by the unidentified individuals responsible for the threats.  The letter accused Buitrago of publishing lies in support of Cali's mayor, whom the journalist has backed publicly because of the mayor's alleged stand against corruption.  The letter warned that Buitrago and 10 other people would be declared "military targets" unless they left the city immediately.  In May, Buitrago received two death threats by e-mail.  Then, in June, armed men mistook the magazine's advertising salesman for Buitrago, forced him into a vehicle, and threatened to kill him before realizing their mistake and freeing him.  Based on these incidents, Buitrago sought the protection of the Ministry of Interior on August 21.  Receiving no response for several weeks, he decided to leave the city.  Buitrago launched Revista Valle 2000 in 1998 as a publication dedicated to investigating and denouncing cases of political corruption in Valle del Cauca.  Death threats in recent years have forced four of his volunteer correspondents to resign.  Before starting the magazine, Buitrago was assistant editor of El Caleño and a reporter for El País.[28]

 

49.  On October 14, 2002, a group of journalists and camera operators from several media outlets was the target of gunfire while covering confrontations between police and urban militias in the Comuna 13 neighborhood, west of Medellín.  Claudia Garro of Caracol TV, Javier Arboleda of El Colombiano, Victor Vargas of Teleantioquia, Fernando Cifuentes of Noticias Uno and Carlos Franco of RCN TV, along with their camera operators, were hiding behind a wall near where the confrontations were taking place and attempting to get some footage of the confrontations.  Shots were fired on the journalists and the journalists withdrew immediately to a nearby clinic.  All of them escaped unhurt.[29]

 

50.  On November 13, 2002, a bomb placed inside a vehicle exploded in front of the RCN radio station studios in Cúcuta.  Four individuals, including a police officer, a security guard and two local residents were injured and there was material damage to some of the surrounding buildings, including the nearby home of the Norte de Santander police commander, Colonel Carlos Alberto Barragán.  No RCN journalist or media worker was injured in the blast.  No threats had been received at the radio station since the end of May, in the weeks preceding the presidential elections.  Authorities have stated that they believe the police commander was the real target for the attack, but that a security perimeter around his house prevented the culprits from parking the car any closer to his house.  Prior to the explosion, the assailants had reportedly fired shots at the guards stationed outside the police commander's house and then fled, leaving behind a taxi packed with 40 kilograms of explosives in front of the RCN studios.  [30] 

 

51.  On November 19, 2002, a bomb that was concealed inside a suitcase was left in front of the offices of the regional newspaper La Opinión, located in Cúcuta, northern Santander.  The attackers tried to enter the newspaper's offices, but the guards stopped them from gaining access.  Since the perpetrators were unable to enter the building, they left the suitcase containing the bomb outside the main entrance and fled the scene.  A guard noticed the bomb and informed the police.  An anti-explosive unit deactivated the bomb, which contained 30 kilos of the explosive Anfo, the same explosive used in the November 13 bombing in front of the RCN radio station.  Neither the newspaper nor its journalists had recently received any threats.  North Santander Police Chief Colonel Barragan attributed the attack on the La Opinión offices to the ELN.[31]

 

52.  On November 26, 2002, a taped message, allegedly recorded by the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas, was delivered to the Radio Catatumbo station, an RCN radio network affiliate in Ocaña.  In the message, the ELN urges the municipality's media outlets to "report impartially or else face attacks" similar to those against RCN radio and the daily La Opinión in Cúcuta. . The ELN also cites a number of grievances that the ELN has with the army.  Radio Catatumbo manager Agustín McGregor noted that after the tape was delivered, he received a telephone call from Commander "Raúl," spokesperson for the Armando Cauca Guerrero and Camilo Torres ELN divisions.  The guerrilla leader threatened him with consequences if he did not air the tape in its entirety and communicate the ELN message to other media outlets in Ocaña and southern Cesar department.  The tape was aired the following day.[32] 

 

53.  In December 2002, the Office of the Special Rapporteur was notified that journalists Roció Silva, of Emisora ABC, and Hernando Lozano, of Radio Reloj Caracol, had suffered ongoing threats and harassment from Miriam Llanos, president of the City Council (Concejo Municipal) of Galapa, and her mother, Yolanda Matera.  These actions were in retaliation for the journalists’ reports criticizing some actions of the City Council.[33]

 

Follow-up on the assassination of journalist Guzmán Quintero Torres

 

54.  In January 2002, the Criminal Judge of the Specialized Circuit of Valledupar (Juez penal del circuito especializado de Valledupar) also absolved Jorge Eliécer Espinel Velásquez and Rodolfo Nelson Rosado, two suspects in the murder of journalist Guzmán Quintero Torres.  Quintero Torres was murdered on September 16, 1999.  He was the editor-in-chief of the daily El Pilón.  Shortly before he died, he had published a series of articles denouncing homicides and abuses committed by members of the National Army.  The decision absolving the two suspects was appealed by the prosecution.  The appeal is currently pending.[34]

 

55.  In 2002, there were a number of developments in the case of journalist Jaime Garzón's assassination.  Garzón was assassinated on August 13, 1999.  He was a popular journalist and critical humorist in Colombia who denounced and criticized drug trafficking, political and military corruption, and paramilitary actions.  He was also involved in negotiations for the release of individuals kidnapped by the FARC and had participated as a mediator in peace talks with the ELN guerrilla.  On January 13, the investigation phase of the case was closed, some press freedom groups feel too early, as the possible involvement of some members of the army was not fully investigated.  In March, the Garzón case was brought to trial, after the Attorney General's Office found that there was sufficient evidence to try Carlos Castaño Gil, head of the paramilitary forces in Colombia, for having allegedly masterminded the crime.  Juan Pablo Ortiz Agudelo, alias "El Bochas," and Edilberto Sierra Ayala, alias "Toño," were alleged to have carried out the assassination.  On September 16, 2002, the seventh judge of the Bogotá Specialized Court stated that he would not be able to rule on the case due to lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.  According to the Criminal Code, a case should be treated by a Specialized Court when the homicide is believed to have been committed "with terrorist aims or as part of terrorist activities," or if the victim "was a public official, journalist, justice of the peace, labor leader, politician or religious leader."  The Specialized Court judge determined that in this case, the assassination did not occur while the victim was acting as a journalist and the motive was not connected to terrorist activity.  Therefore, he did not have jurisdiction over the case and the case should be tried in an ordinary court..  On October 23, the Division of Criminal Appeals of the Supreme Court of Justice (Sala de Casación Penal de la Corte Suprema de Justicia) overruled the Specialized Court judge’s decision, finding that the Specialized Court must hear the case because the crime had been committed with “terrorist aims.”[35] 

 

56.  On October 2, 2002, the Barranquilla Specialized Criminal Court acquitted Alfredo de Jesús Liévano Alcocer of the murder of journalist Carlos Lajud Catalán.  Lajud Catalán was murdered on March 19, 1993, in the city of Barranquilla, Atlántico department.  It has been suggested that the motive of the crime was to silence his criticism about issues of corruption in the regional administration and about drug trafficking.  Two other individuals were suspected of having been involved with the assassination: Enrique Sornoza, alias "Garnacha," and Bernardo Hoyos Montoya, a priest, mayor of Barranquilla on two occasions and currently a senator.  However, Sornoza was assassinated in 1994 and the investigation of Hoyos Montoya's role in the crime was closed on June 5, 2002.  As a result, no individuals are currently being investigated in connection to the crime.  On October 11, 2002, the Attorney General's Office appealed the Specialized Criminal Court’s ruling.  The Lajud Catalán murder is one of the cases the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).[36]

 

Legislation

 

57.  On August 11, 2002, President Alvaro Uribe declared a state of "Internal Disturbance" (“Conmoción Interior”).  Under the Colombian Constitution, such a declaration gives the president the power to issue decrees, with the force of law, suspending norms that are incompatible with it.  The declaration was made in response to the grave disruptions to the public order caused by the internal armed conflict.  In September 2002, President Uribe issued a presidential decree designating 27 townships in three separate departments in northern and northwestern Colombia as security zones, giving state authorities greater leverage in their battle against paramilitary soldiers and leftist guerrillas.  The decree also required all foreigners traveling to the security zones to get permission from the government first.  On October 24, the government clarified the process for obtaining such permission.  Foreign journalists are required to fax a request to the Interior Ministry listing their employer, where they plan to visit, and the length of their stay.  Foreigners found in the zone without permission could be deported.  According to a government spokesperson, journalists are not to be required to reveal what they plan on reporting inside the security zones.  The spokesperson added that Interior Ministry officials will be on hand 24 hours a day, seven days a week to process requests in under an hour if needed.  The regulations were designed to prevent foreigners from coming to Colombia to train armed groups under the guise of being journalists.  On November 25, the Constitutional Court overturned sections of the decree.  The Court stated that the requirement that foreigners traveling to the zones get permission first from the government could not be applied to journalists who are already accredited.  The court also ruled that other key elements in the decree, such as searches without warrants, arrests, and communications intercepts, violate the Colombian Constitution.[37]

 

Positive Developments

 

58.  On September 24, 2002, the Attorney General's Office announced that it would add 12 new prosecutors to a unit dedicated to investigating attacks against the press.  The unit in the Attorney General's Office charged with investigating attacks against the press was created in May 1999.  It previously had four prosecutors based in Bogotá.  With the addition of the new prosecutors, the unit will have six prosecutors in Bogotá and eleven more working in seven other towns and cities throughout the country.  The Attorney General's Office took this measure in response to a rising number of crimes against journalists in Colombia.[38]

 

 

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