(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ has expressed its profound indignation about the 21 October 1999 brutal murder of radio journalist Rodolfo Julio Torres, in the town of San Onofre, Sucre Department. CPJ has urged President Andrés Pastrana Arango in the strongest possible terms to launch an exhaustive investigation into this lethal attack on press freedom, the third […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ has expressed its profound indignation about the 21 October
1999 brutal murder of radio journalist Rodolfo Julio Torres, in the town of
San Onofre, Sucre Department. CPJ has urged President Andrés Pastrana Arango
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.
**For information on the other cases mentioned in the alert see IFEX alerts
of 24 September, 22 September, 17 September, 16 August and 13 August 1999
and 14 November 1997**
In the early hours of 21 October, five individuals arrived at Torres’ home.
They drove the 38-year-old journalist to the outskirts of town. After
shooting him six times, they left him dead by the side of the road.
Torres worked for the Cartagena radio station Fuente. He also worked as the
press secretary for a recently elected mayor. He was formerly a
correspondent with Radio Caracolí in Sincelejo, the capital of Sucre
Department, and with the Sincelejo daily “Meridiano”.
Torres’ colleagues are convinced he was assassinated in reprisal for his
outspoken reporting. He covered cock fights, known as major gambling venues,
as well as general politics. One year ago, a series of anonymously
distributed pamphlets accused him of being affiliated with leftist
guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN). The pamphlets were
believed to have come from the Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), a
coalition of extreme right-wing paramilitary groups.
This is not the first time CPJ has documented the killing of a journalist in
reprisal for his work in the violence-ridden Sucre Department. On 8 November
1997, radio journalist Francisco Castro Menco, who had often called for an
end to political violence in the region, was fatally shot in his home by
unidentified killers.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
murder, along with the 13 August killing of Jaime Garzon and the 16
September killing of Guzmán Quintero Torres, and see to it that the authors
are brought to justice
negotiations that are starting this Sunday 24 October, so that the press can
feel free to make its contribution to Colombia’s peace process
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
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
