(PERIODISTAS/IFEX) – On 26 March 2003, at least five journalists were assaulted by Federal Police officers in front of the Congress building in Buenos Aires. Inside the building, the Senate was deciding whether it would expel legislator Luis Barrionuevo, of the Partido Justicialista party. Barrionuevo is under investigation and suspected of being responsible for a […]
(PERIODISTAS/IFEX) – On 26 March 2003, at least five journalists were assaulted by Federal Police officers in front of the Congress building in Buenos Aires. Inside the building, the Senate was deciding whether it would expel legislator Luis Barrionuevo, of the Partido Justicialista party. Barrionuevo is under investigation and suspected of being responsible for a series of incidents on 2 March that culminated in the burning of ballot boxes and the suspension of elections in Catamarca province, in northern Argentina.
A nearby street was closed due to the presence of a group of Barrionuevo’s supporters. Some 100 metres away, more than 50 people from non-governmental organisations gathered in the square in front of the Congress building to condemn Barrionuevo with a symbolic ballot box, some 2.5 metres high. Shortly before 9:00 p.m. (local time), Federal Police advanced on the demonstrators in order to remove the ballot box. According to Prosecutor Martín Lapadú, who was on duty at the time, the box “was clearly obstructing pedestrian traffic.”
The police struck the demonstrators and journalists who were interviewing them. “They advanced quickly, in a semi-circle, and did not give us a chance to get out of the way,” Carlos Alberto Márquez, camera assistant for Channel 26 television station, told PERIODISTAS. Márquez was clubbed on the head and in the right leg. His colleague, camera operator Arturo Núñez, explained that he was struck on the head and back.
Telefé television camera operator Javier Caudana suffered the most serious injuries. Telefé reporter Diego Pietrafesa told PERIODISTAS that Caudana needed four stitches after being struck on the head with a club. Another Telefé reporter, Guillermo Panizza, received a minor cut behind the ear and a producer of the “Kaos en la Ciudad” programme, broadcast on the Channel 13 station, said police sprayed paralysing gas in his face.
Prosecutor Lapadú admitted that the police may have acted “excessively.” He did not clarify, however, why they were perturbed by the ballot box, which took up two metres of the sidewalk, and not by Barrionuevo’s sympathisers, who blocked one of the city’s central streets.
In the last month, at least 10 journalists have been attacked by Federal Police officers while covering street demonstrations (see IFEX alerts of 10 March and 26 February 2003). In a meeting with President Eduardo Duhalde and Minister of Justice, Security and Human Rights Juan José Álvarez, arranged one week before the incident, the minister informed PERIODISTAS that the officer identified as Caudana’s attacker had been suspended. The minister added that the authorities were “examining video recordings provided by the television stations, as well as footage shot by [the police’s Internal Affairs department], to establish which other officers were involved. Those deemed responsible will be severely punished.”
Recommended Action
Send letters of support for the journalists:
c/o PERIODISTAS
Fax: + 54 11 4300 6149
Send appeals to the justice, security and human rights minister:
– condemning the police action and urging him to identify and punish the officers who attacked the reporters
Appeals To
Juan José Álvarez
Minister of Justice, Security and Human Rights
Tel: +54 11 4331 8488
Tel/fax: + 54 11 4328 2442 / 2730
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
