Colombia The byproduct of Colombia's four-decade-long civil conflict and the fight to control drug profits has been the killing of journalists with impunity by all the parties involved: the Colombian military, its associated paramilitaries and right-wing death squads, armed opposition groups and drug gangs. Since 1988, over 100 journalists have been killed, making Colombia one of the most dangerous places on earth to be a journalist. Colombian journalists are caught in a vice. On one side they are targeted by the military when they try to investigate human rights abuses by government forces or the suspected link between the military and paramilitary death squads. The other jaw in the vice squeezing journalists is their designation as legitimate "military targets" by armed opposition groups that makes venturing into opposition-controlled areas increasingly dangerous. Added to this deadly mix is the drug trade and its lucrative profits. The government may have broken the largest cartels, but hundreds of smaller gangs have filled the void. Some are reportedly run by the paramilitaries. Others reputedly pay "tax" to opposition groups in return for protection. The drug trade makes getting accurate news reports from remote areas of the country extremely difficult. The killing of journalists in Colombia has declined of late, with Mexico now leading Latin America in the number of journalists killed in the past year. Colombia is not suddenly safe. The decline is attributed to the practice of self-censorship on the part of the press. Self-censorship is now a survival technique for many Colombian journalists. Others have left the region in fear of their safety. The issue of impunity killings is far from resolved. Attack may prove turning point Colombian Attorney General Mario Iguaran announced in late February that members of the army's 17th Brigade were being called in for questioning about the killings. The government, fearing that further inaction could jeopardize U.S. aid to Colombia, has been forced to act by international protests over the killing. Whether this is a first step in ending the impunity enjoyed by Colombian security forces, remains to be seen. The investigation is hampered by witnesses too afraid to come out of hiding. Other witnesses who provided information have been killed. Journalists trying to cover the story have been threatened and killed. It will take more than this one investigation to change the culture of impunity that haunts Colombia and threatens its journalists. Report by David Sharpe UNESCO's World Press Freedom Day 2007 in Medellin, Colombia From the UNESCO Website: Guillermo Cano Isaza was assassinated December 17, 1986, at the entrance to the office of El Espectador - where he had served as the editor since the age of 27. The newspaper's building was destroyed in a bomb attack three years later. His career-long commitment to diversity of opinion and the circumstances of his death - he had called for firm measures to be applied against drug traffickers - symbolise the price paid by journalists throughout the world to violence. By David Sharpe
Visit the official website of the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day conference and view the conference program. |
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