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…
October 26, 1999 — CPJ is alarmed about a defamation campaign being waged against Gustavo Gorriti, the Peruvian-born associate editor of the leading Panama City daily La Prensa. Earlier this month, a mysterious organization called the “Committee for Freedom of Expression in Panama” put up posters all around Panama City that showed Gorriti’s face with…
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.
Raúl Rivero, founder and director of the independent news agency CubaPress, informed CPJ that Cuban authorities denied him a permit to travel to Columbia University to receive a special citation from the Graduate School of Journalism for “independent reporting in the face of harassment, arrests, and threats from the government.” He was scheduled to receive…
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.
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.
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.
Panama City, Panama, September 8, 1999–A delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) met with newly inaugurated president Mireya Moscoso this morning and urged her to repeal the country’s notorious “gag laws,” which criminalize the practice of journalism in Panama. The gag laws date largely from military governments of the 1970s and 1980s. They…
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.”