Freedom of Expression
Peru
PRINCIPLE 9 OF THE DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION (Murder, kidnapping, intimidation of and/or threats to social communicators, as well as the material destruction of communications media)
25. In 2004, as in prior years, the Office of the Special Rapporteur received information on threats to and assault on journalists in the interior, particularly in the context of social protest or as the result of reports alleging corrupt practices by local officials. In two cases, the social communicators had to leave the regions in which they worked. The Office of the Special Rapporteur also received reports on two cases of assassinations that could be related to the journalists’ professional work.
26. On February 14, 2004, Antonio de la Torre Echandía, who directed the news program El equipo de la Noticia, broadcast by Radio Orbita, was assassinated in the Pampac neighborhood, in Yungay, Ancash, north of Lima.[1] According to the investigations, Moisés David Julca had been identified as the alleged direct perpetrator of the murder. Another suspect was the mayor, Amaro León, who allegedly was the mastermind. As of the writing of this report, Julca was at large, as was the mayor’s daughter, Enma León Martínez, who is also being investigated.[2]
27. On April 21, 2004, Alberto Rivera Fernández, 54 years of age, was assassinated; he directed the program Transparencia broadcast daily on the Oriental radio station in the city of Pucallpa in the department of Ucayali, east of Lima, and president of the journalists’ association (Federación de Periodistas) of that region.[3] On June 1, the police detained Roy Gavino Cullqui Saurino, and three days later Martín Ignacio Flores Vásquez. The first worked as a journalist and public relations director for the municipal government, and the second as an employee of the municipal water and sewerage company.[4]
28. The Office of the Special Rapporteur received reports of several cases of attacks and threats in the Ancash region, in northern Peru. In late January and early February, journalists from local media received threats and were assaulted, allegedly by members of a vigilante group in the locality of Santa, after the communicators covered the suspension of the local mayor by the municipal council.[5] From April 20 to 28, 2004, journalist Rocío Vásquez Goicoechea, of Las Últimas Noticias, a daily in El Chimbote, received several threats on her cell phone, and at home. Unknown persons tried to run her over on April 27. The acts of intimidation occurred after Vásquez published a report on illegal fishing.[6] On June 15, 2004, in Pomabamba, journalist Fernando Valverde Lavado, of El Equipo de la Noticia, received a threat by phone in which he was told he had two days to leave the region, or he would meet the same fate as his colleague Antonio de La Torre, who was assassinated on February 14. Valverde had undertaken investigations into local officials. He left the city.[7] On June 19, 2004, journalists Fredy Valenzuela Robles, reporter with Noticiero Regional on the channel ATV, Luis Hermosa Gloria of the news program on Canal 2, and Ladizlao Cruz Villachica, reporter with Radio Armonía,were assaulted in the city of Caraz while covering confrontations between demonstrators and police; the demonstrators were expressing their rejection of the local mayor’s performance.[8]
29. Following are other cases reported during the year to the Office of the Special Rapporteur.
30. In February 2004, journalist Jaime Díaz and cameraman Jaime Vidal Torres, of the evening news team for Frecuencia Latina, of Canal 2, were assaulted by unknown persons in the early morning hours. The assailants apparently sought to keep them from covering an emergency in the district of San Borja, in Lima.[9]
31. On February 7, 2004, in Chepen, José Mendoza Saldaña, director of the news program El Informativo on the radio station Estación Latina, was reportedly assaulted by the director of transit of the local government, who reportedly beat him and publicly threatened to kill him. Days earlier, relatives of the director of transit had burst into the radio station to threaten him over information that had been broadcast related to the official’s performance.[10]
32. On March 11, 2004, the regional director of education for Junín, Juan Carvo Iparraguirre, and his two children, reportedly attacked journalist Ginés Barrios Alderete and his wife, Clorinda Romero Quispe, who were wounded in the face and on the head.[11]
33. On May 23, 2004, in the district of Ilave, Puno region, in southeast Peru, a group of persons attacked journalists Juan Rizo Patrón and Dante Piaggio of El Comercio, Elena Cano and Daniel Contreras of La Razón, and Mónica Cépeda and Óscar Echevarría of Frecuencia Latina. The journalists were attacked with stones when they were covering a demonstration.[12]The next day, several journalists who covered the demonstrations were hit with stones, among them the correspondent for the daily La República, Christian Ticona Coahuila, who suffered a deep wound in the head. Also present were reporters from the daily Correo and the magazine Caretas. The journalists had to be evacuated from Puno.[13]
34. On July 1, 2004, in the context of a demonstration by teachers in the city of Huamanga, Ayacucho region, in southwestern Peru, several social communicators who were covering the event were attacked. They included José Atauje, correspondent for América Televisión, whose materials were taken from him; a cameramen from the program Confirmado Regional of Radio Televisión Peruana in Ayacucho; Rocío Paredes, of Radio Televisión Peruana; Walter Huayanay, owner of Radio Televisión Atlantis Canal 25, and his cameraman. These attacks occurred after a confrontation with the police, who threw tear gas at the teachers to drive them out of the offices of the regional government, the local government, and the police station, which had been taken over by the demonstrators.[14]
35. From November 20 to 29, 2004, Renán Palacios, a journalist with Radio Constelación, of Ica, to the south of the Peruvian capital, received 19 messages on his cell phone with death threats. Even though he sought protection from the police sub-station on November 23, he obtained no result. He had to leave and take refuge in Lima.[15]
[1] Committee to Protect Journalists, April 6, 2004, http://www.cpj.org/cases04/americas_cases04/peru.html.
[2] Inter-American Press Association, Country-by-Country Reports, Annual Assembly, at www.sipiapa.com, October 2004. Asociación Nacional de Periodistas de Perú (ANP), March 22, 2004, “Alcalde de Yungay acusado por muerte del periodista Antonio de la Torre Echandia,” and IFEX, February 23, which cites RSF, “Reporteros sin Fronteras condena asesinato de periodista.” International Freedom of Expression Exchange, www.ifex.org, March 22, 2004, which cites the Latin American human rights section of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, April 7, 2004, “Perú: Identificado y con orden de captura otro de los asesinos del periodista Antonio de la Torre.”
[3] According to information received from the Office of the Special Rapporteur, Rivera was assassinated when two men entered a glass store he owned, and one by them shot him in the chest several times. There were no signs of robbery. In late May, the police had declared that the killing was a crime of passion, but this hypothesis was later refuted. See Committee to Protect Journalists, April 23, 2004, http://www.cpj.org/cases04/americas_cases04/peru.html and Inter-American Press Association, Country-by-Country Reports, Annual Assembly, at www.sipiapa.com, October 2004.
[4] Inter-American Press Association, Country-by-Country Reports, Annual Assembly, at www.sipiapa.com, October 2004, and Reporters without Borders, “Tres nuevas detenciones en el caso del asesinato de Alberto Rivera Fernández,” June 9, 2004, at www.rsf.fr.
[5]The mayor had become entrenched with his officials in City Hall. On February 2, when they attempted to evict him, the journalists were attacked with bricks cast from inside the place, but none was injured. Asociación Nacional de Periodistas de Perú, February 2, 2004, “Perú: Periodistas hostilizados y agredidos en Chimbote,” at: Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org.
[6] Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, “Amenazan de muerte a periodista de Chimbote,” April 28, 2004, at International Freedom of Expression Exchange, www.ifex.org. On August 2, the Office of the Fourth Provincial Prosecutor of Santa, archived the case. Asociación Nacional de Periodistas del Perú, “Fiscalía archiva caso de periodista amenazada,” alert of August 6, 2004.
[7] Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, “Periodista obligado a dejar su ciudad tras amenaza de muerte,” August 3, 2004, at International Freedom of Information Exchange, www.ifex.org.
[8] Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, June 30, 2004.
[9] Asociación Nacional de Periodistas de Perú, February 24, 2004 at: International Freedom of Expression Exchange, www.ifex.org.
[10] International Freedom of Expression Exchange, www.ifex.org, February 11, 2004.
[11] The incident occurred during a press conference called by Barrios to report on an incident involving Carvo and a student that took place in 1997. Carvo apologized for the attack and accepted that he had assaulted the student.
[12] International Freedom of Expression Exchange, www.ifex.org, May 25, 2004, and Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, May 25, 2004.
[13] Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, “Hieren gravemente a periodista durante violenta protesta,” May 26, 2004, at International Freedom of Expression Exchange, www.ifex.org.
[14] Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, “Reporteros agredidos mientras cubrían manifestación,” July 6, at International Freedom of Information Exchange (IFEX).
[15] Since August, Palacios had been denouncing alleged irregularities in the running of the Instituto Nacional de Cultura of Ica. On November 12, the brother of the Institute’s administrator “advised” him not to continue reporting on the matter. See Reporters without Borders, “Un periodista obligado a refugiarse en Lima a causa de las amenazas recibidas,” at http://www.rsf.fr/Article.php3?id_Article=12001, December 2, 2004.