Colombia / Americas

  

Colombia: Leftist rebels free seven journalists, Reuters photographer still in captivity

New York, November 3, 1999 — Seven cameramen and reporters kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were released yesterday. The journalists were set free in the afternoon of November 2 near Barrancabermeja, an important oil-refining center. Concern for the journalists’ safety had been running high since heavy fighting erupted on October 16…

Read More ›

COLOMBIAN PHOTOGRAPHER KIDNAPPED BY GUERRILLAS

New York, October 29, 1999– Leftist guerrillas who kidnapped a Colombian journalist on October 26 say they will only release him if a rebel communiqué is made public. But local journalists have rejected the demand, saying they only broadcast the rebel’s message once the kidnapped journalist is set free. Henry Romero, a freelance photographer who…

Read More ›

Colombia: Radio journalist murdered

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to express its profound indignation about yesterday’s brutal murder of radio journalist Rodolfo Julio Torres in the town of San Onofre, Sucre Department. We are urging you in the strongest possible terms to launch an exhaustive investigation into this lethal attack on press freedom, the third to have taken place in Colombia in less than three months.

Read More ›

Colombia: Editor gunned down in restaurant

Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to condemn the September 16 murder of Guzmán Quintero Torres, editor-in-chief of the daily El Pilónin Valledupar, capital of the northern Cesar Department. We urge you to ensure that those responsible for this heinous crime are brought to justice.

Read More ›

Colombia: Editor gunned down in restaurant

Your Excellency, El Comité para Proteger a los Periodistas (CPJ) le escribe para condenar el asesinato el 16 de septiembre de Guzmán Quintero Torres, jefe de redacción del diario El Pilón de Valledupar, capital del departamento norteño de Cesar. Le exhortamos a garantizar que los responsables de este horrible crimen serán llevados a justicia.

Read More ›

Colombia: Journalist murdered in Valledupar

Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to condemn the September 16 murder of Guzmán Quintero Torres, editor-in-chief of the daily El Pilónin Valledupar, capital of the northern Cesar Department. We urge you to ensure that those responsible for this heinous crime are brought to justice.

Read More ›

Colombia: Mysterious hate pamphlet includes three journalists on enemies list

Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to urge you to investigate the provenance of a pamphlet containing threats against journalists and other intellectuals that started circulating in the streets of Bogotá, Cali, and Medellín earlier this month. The pamphlet, signed “Colombian Rebel Army (ERC),” accuses 21 intellectuals, among them three journalists, of being enemies of Colombia’s peace process. The pamphlet reads: “These sinister figures feed the war between Colombians, foment hatred and class struggle, live off the war … They will pay for the destruction of the peace process.”

Read More ›

Colombia: Sad end for political humorist

August 13, 1999 His Excellency Andrés Pastrana Arango President of the Republic of Colombia Casa de Narino Santa Fe de Bogotá, COLOMBIA Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to express its deep sorrow over today’s cold-blooded murder of radio journalist Jaime Garzón, one of Colombia’s most popular political humorists. CPJ urges…

Read More ›

Propaganda War in Serbia

“When the bombs began falling in Yugoslavia on March 24, the seven Serb journalists who happened to be visiting our offices in New York during a tour of the United States all ran for the phones. They were worried about the families they had left behind, but they also feared for the survival of Serbia’s…

Read More ›

118 Journalists Imprisoned in 25 Countries

Washington, D.C., March 25 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported today in its annual worldwide study of press freedom that at least 118 journalists were in prison in 25 countries at the end of 1998, and 24 journalists in 17 countries were murdered during the year in reprisal for their reporting.

Read More ›