Juan Carlos Benavides Arévalo

New York, January 2, 2004—A total of 36 journalists were killed worldwide as a direct result of their work in 2003, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). This is a sharp increase from 2002, when 19 journalists were killed. The war in Iraq was the primary reason for the increase, as 13 journalists, more than a third of this year's casualties, were killed in hostile actions.

In fact, according to CPJ's statistics, the death toll in Iraq was the highest annual total from a single country since 24 journalists were killed in Algeria in 1995 at the height of civil strife between the government and Islamist militants.

New York, August 25, 2003— The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns last week’s incident in which a journalist was killed and another one was seriously injured when the vehicle in which they were traveling was fired on at a checkpoint allegedly guarded by rebels near the town of Puerto Caicedo, in southern Colombia.

On Friday, August 22, at about 6:15 p.m., Juan Carlos Benavides Arévalo died after suspected rebels shot at the vehicle when the driver decided to elude a checkpoint. Benavides, 29, hosted the morning radio program “Panorama Informativo” (News Outlook) for the community station Manantial Estéreo, which is run by the Roman Catholic diocese of Putumayo Department, in the town of Sibundoy. Jaime Conrado Juajibioy Cuarán, 24, who worked with Benavides at the station, was seriously injured in the attack and taken to a hospital to receive treatment for his wounds, according to CPJ sources.

Nova York, 25 de agosto de 2003—O Comitê para a Proteção dos Jornalistas (CPJ) condena o incidente da semana passada no qual um jornalista foi assassinado e outro seriamente ferido, quando o veículo em que viajavam foi baleado em um posto de controle guardado pelos rebeldes perto da cidade de Puerto Caicedo, no sul da Colômbia.

Na sexta-feira, 22 de agosto, por volta das 18h15, Juan Carlos Benavides Arévalo morreu depois que supostos rebeldes dispararam contra o veículo quando o motorista decidiu iludir um posto de controle. Benavides, de 29 anos, conduzia o programa matutino de rádio “Panorama Informativo” para a estação comunitária Manantial Estéreo, de propriedade da diocese do Departamento de Putumayo, na cidade de Sibundoy. Jaime Conrado Juajibioy Cuarán, de 24 anos, que trabalhava com Benavides na estação de rádio, foi seriamente ferido no ataque e levado a um hospital para receber os primeiros-socorros, de acordo com as fontes consultadas pelo CPJ.