IPYS protests armed groups’ threat to kill 18 journalists

(IPYS/IFEX) – In two separate lists, the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) guerrilla army and a rightwing paramilitary group have named 18 people, most of them journalists, who will be assassinated unless they leave the department of Arauca immediately. Caracol Television correspondent Rodrigo Ávila received the lists on […]

(IPYS/IFEX) – In two separate lists, the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) guerrilla army and a rightwing paramilitary group have named 18 people, most of them journalists, who will be assassinated unless they leave the department of Arauca immediately.

Caracol Television correspondent Rodrigo Ávila received the lists on 28 March 2003. On 19 March, Ávila had been threatened by telephone and given 12 hours to leave the city.

According to Ávila, a supposed FARC combatant came to his office while his bodyguard was absent on his lunch break. The individual said all the people on the lists were military objectives of one or the other armed group, and explained that FARC had obtained the paramilitary group’s list from infiltrators the guerrillas have in the rightwing paramilitary group.

In the list attributed to FARC, the following people are named: Carmen Rosa Pabon, a journalist for La Voz de Cinaruco radio station; DIC radio journalist Liz Neira Roncancio, who was expected to join Meridiano 70 radio; Jineth Pinilla, of the Colombian army’s communications department; RCN Television correspondent Carlos Pérez; Channel 4 journalist Hernán Morales; “Nueva Frontera” newspaper journalist Henry Colmenares; parliamentarian William Reyes Cadena, who formerly worked as a journalist; and José Antonio Hurtado, of the Interior Ministry’s communications department.

The list attributed to the paramilitary group is headed by the names of Efraín Varela (see IFEX alerts of 3 and 2 July 2002) and Luis Eduardo Alfonso (see alerts of 25 and 19 March 2003 and 4 July 2002), both formerly of Meridiano 70, each listed with a cross beside his name. Both journalists have already been assassinated. The following people are also named: journalist Emiro Goyeneche, of Sarare Estéreo radio, in Saravena; Caracol Television correspondent Ávila; Tame Estéreo radio journalist Álvaro Augusto Báez, who left the region in 2002; Radio DIC manager Narda Guerrero; Radio DIC and “El Corredor” newspaper journalist Ángel María Leon; Miguel Ángel Rojas, of Meridiano 70; Zoraida Ariza, a Caracol Radio employee in Saravena; and Luis Guedes, town councillor and Caracol Radio news announcer in Arauca.

The lists arrived two hours before the scheduled start of a meeting the journalists had called to evaluate the danger they face. The perceived risk for journalists in the region has increased since the 18 March assassination of Alfonso.

Neither armed group has confirmed or denied the authenticity of the lists.

The journalists have repeatedly protested that local authorities do not provide them with the necessary protection. On the contrary, they say, they have been treated with indifference, with the result that they feel caught in the middle of the armed groups battling in the area. The region was declared a “Rehabilitation Zone” by President Álvaro Uribe.

The journalists decided to suspend news broadcasting and agreed to travel together to Bogotá early in the week of 31 March to seek immediate and effective responses from the government.

Recommended Action

Appeals To

Fernando Londoño Hoyos
Justice and Interior Minister
Avenida Jiménez No. 8-89
Bogotá, D.C.
Colombia
Tel: +571 566 1600 / 566 1700
Fax: + 571 560 2604

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