(IPYS/IFEX) – Journalists reporting on municipal government affairs in the city of Sicuani, capital of Canchis province, in Cusco, have experienced the wrath of the mayor and his associates. IPYS was informed of the situation by the National Human Rights Coordinator (Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos, CNDH) and Radio Sicuani journalists. According to information provided […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – Journalists reporting on municipal government affairs in the city of Sicuani, capital of Canchis province, in Cusco, have experienced the wrath of the mayor and his associates. IPYS was informed of the situation by the National Human Rights Coordinator (Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos, CNDH) and Radio Sicuani journalists.
According to information provided to IPYS, journalists who have questioned the activities of municipal officials and condemned corruption at the municipality have been threatened and harassed. Local citizens who do not support the mayor and his colleagues have also been targeted.
In a document sent to IPYS, Esaú Gamarra Pino, Radio Sicuani press director, recounted events which have taken place since February 2003. After a meeting convened by the Civil Defense Committee, journalist Lucho Mamani Huillca tried to interview Mayor Ricardo Cornejo Sánchez. The mayor at first refused but, as the journalist insisted, he eventually agreed and invited Mamani to his office.
When the interview began, the mayor tried to grab the tape recorder Mamani had strapped to his wrist. The mayor then insulted and threatened the journalist, swearing at him, “Listen you son of a bitch, be careful, don’t screw around.” Cornejo had failed to notice the presence of a number of municipal officials who witnessed the incident. Mamani started to leave when he was approached by a municipal employee named Edgardo Tito who asked him to forgive the mayor’s behaviour.
Subsequently, on 3 July, between 5:45 and 6:00 p.m. (local time), Mamani’s mother received a telephone call from an individual asking for the journalist. The caller said, “Tell him to be careful,” and hung up.
Another Radio Sicuani journalist, Gluder Valdez Manrique, has also received a death threat. On 20 July, at 12:45 pm, moments before the end of his programme “Compartiendo”, the journalist received an anonymous telephone call at the radio station. The caller told Valdez, “Listen you coward, shut your mouth if you don’t want something to happen to you,” and hung up. During his programme, Valdez had criticised the mayor for not taking a more active role in municipal affairs, such as the construction of a new hospital in Sicuani.
In the report submitted to IPYS, Radio Sicuani journalists outlined other tactics employed by the mayor. Cornejo has reportedly convened municipal officials who have been criticised in the press to stage a campaign aimed at discrediting the journalists, in an effort to have them dismissed from their jobs.
The CNDH also alerted IPYS to the case of journalists Andrés Béjar Torreblanca and Franklin Béjar Miranda, of the Radio Constelación station, based in Sicuani. On 15 July, the radio station’s equipment was stolen. The journalists filed a complaint with the local division of the Peruvian National Police and Béjar Torreblanca informed the station’s listeners of the robbery on 25 May. The following day, a letter threatening the two journalists was delivered to Béjar Torreblanca’s home. The message included a clipping from a newspaper with a photograph of a dead person next to a stretcher.
The CNDH condemned the incidents, calling them “a violation of the rights enshrined in the American Convention on Human Rights, which the state has a responsibility to protect.”
The journalists believe that the mayor’s brother, Rolando Cornejo Sánchez, who has proclaimed himself an honorary municipal advisor, is behind the threats. According to IPYS’ sources, Rolando Cornejo goes by the name of “The Doc” or “Uncle Vladi” (referring to Vladimiro Montesinos, the corrupt advisor of former president Alberto Fujimori).
