(IPYS/IFEX) – Carlos Augusto Pulgarín Guevara, a correspondent with the “El Tiempo” daily, the most important daily in Colombia, was forced to flee his country and take refuge with IPYS in Peru. Pulgarín, a 29 year old Colombian journalist and father of a three-year old child, left Colombia with the help of several international organisations, […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – Carlos Augusto Pulgarín Guevara, a correspondent with the “El Tiempo” daily, the most important daily in Colombia, was forced to flee his country and take refuge with IPYS in Peru. Pulgarín, a 29 year old Colombian journalist and father of a three-year old child, left Colombia with the help of several international organisations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Pulgarín was first threatened at the end of June 1999, while working in Colombia in the city of Montería, state of Cordoba. Threats followed his denunciation of the assassination of Embera Katío indigenous peoples, and the publication of his reports on the armed confrontation between the Colombian army, paramilitaries and the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC), which occurred in the department’s southern region. In one of his reports, Pulgarín stated that the Colombian United Self Defense groups (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC) had suffered fourteen casualties, and not two as he was told by paramilitaries who detained him, along with other journalists, in La Rica, close to the site of the confrontation.
Shortly after publishing this information, Pulgarín received the first threat on 29 June warning him “your family better prepare a nice little funeral procession for you, so that you will no longer be the guerilla’s informant and press relations man.” Carlos Castaño, the AUC leader, was suspected to be the source of these threats, but he denies this charge.
Since Pulgarín published his last report, Colonel Lopez Hernández, the acting army commander during the confrontation in Cordoba, was demoted for errors committed in planning the operation.
Consequently, the head of the joint chiefs of staff for the Montería 11th Brigade, Coronel Miguel Ángel Cárdenas, labeled Carlos Pulgarín the “guerrilla’s press relations man.”
In its 9 December editorial column, “El Tiempo” noted its concern over the forced exile of many Colombian journalists and emphasised that, under the present armed conflict, journalists face tremendous difficulties exercising their right to publish unbiased information. The editorial asserted, “the forced exile of a journalist – in this case Carlos Pulgarín – represents a vile attempt to undermine the press’ social function; however this does not amount to a victory over freedom of the press. On the contrary, it accomplishes precisely the opposite, the strengthening and renovation of journalistic principles.”
By 6 December, Pulgarín had moved from his home state of Cordoba to the city of Bucaramanga, in a neighbouring state, to escape continuing threats. He had already come to the conclusion that he would have to leave Colombia when he was kidnapped in a taxi. A number of men verbally abused him at gunpoint as they drove around and threatened him that there would not be a “second time.”
This incident forced Pulgarín to flee Colombia on the evening of 7 December and take refuge with IPYS in Lima, Peru. In Peru, as in Colombia, Pulgarín went to great lengths to conceal his whereabouts. He chose to keep a low profile in order to regain some of the calm that had been lost during his persecution in Colombia. However, on 27 December, IPYS received a message on their answering machine directed at Pulgarín. In vulgar language a voice advised Pulgarín to watch out
because the callers knew where he was. On 11 January, at approximately 4:00 p.m. (local time), a second message was received at the IPYS office, warning Pulgarín that even though he was trying to hide, the callers knew his whereabouts and were going to kill him.
Although it is not possible to determine if the calls were made from abroad and/or by foreigners, according to IPYS it is evident that the authors of these recent death threats are the same people that forced the journalist to flee Colombia. This is the first known case of a Colombian journalist continuing to face threats while in self-exile. The gravity of the situation has prompted IPYS to publicly denounce this continued persecution, and to ask that the Peruvian, and more importantly the Colombian, authorities initiate an impartial investigation to track down those responsible for the threats.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the Peruvian and Colombian authorities:
- asking that a thorough investigation be carried out to identify and punish those responsible for
the telephone calls and for the threats against Pulgarín
Appeals To
His Excellency Andrés Pastrana Arango
President of the Republic of Colombia
Casa de Nariño
Santa Fe de Bogotá, Colombia
Fax: 571 286 7434 / 286 7937 / 284 2186
E-mail: pastrana@presidencia.gov.co
Alberto Fujimori
Presidente
Ministerio de la Presidencia
Lima, Perú
Fax: +51 1 427 6722 / 426 6535
E-mail: postmaster@pres.gob.pe
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
