Hollman Morris, Colombia

Winner of a 2006 International Press Freedom Award

Morris has been a reporter and documentary filmmaker since the early 1990s, covering Colombia's internal armed conflict and human rights abuses. Morris' highly acclaimed television program Contravia, addresses some of the most difficult and controversial issues in Colombian society. Morris was eventually forced to leave Colombia because of death threats he was receiving in 2000. He returned a year later only to have funeral wreaths and notes of condolence announcing his death delivered to his home and office in 2005.

Most recently, Morris was accused of being an international spokesman for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. CPJ has expressed concern at this erroneous accusation as their research indicates that journalists have in the past been threatened, attacked, and/or murdered for alleged links to armed parties in the country.

Sponsored by Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), the International Press Freedom Awards recognize the efforts of journalists like Hollman Morris to give voice to the voiceless and act as an independent monitor of power.

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Related links:

Learn more about Hollman Morris and other journalists fighting for freedom of expression across the world by visiting CJFE's International Press Freedom Awards page.

To visit the official web site of the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day conference and view the conference programme click on the link below.
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/admin/ev.php?URL_ID=22728&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201