(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 14 August 2003 IAPA press release: IAPA acts on unpunished murder of newspaper employee MIAMI (August 14, 2003) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today called on newspaper and magazine readers throughout the Western Hemisphere to sign an open letter to Colombian Attorney General Luis Camilo Osorio, asking […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 14 August 2003 IAPA press release:
IAPA acts on unpunished murder of newspaper employee
MIAMI (August 14, 2003) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today called on newspaper and magazine readers throughout the Western Hemisphere to sign an open letter to Colombian Attorney General Luis Camilo Osorio, asking for his help to solve the murder of Elizabeth Obando Murcia, a Colombian citizen, in the town of Roncesvalles, Tolima province, last year.
The IAPA is waging a hemisphere-wide campaign titled, “Let Us Put An End to Impunity”, to bring the guilty to justice in the murders of 269 journalists in the past 15 years. Interactive ads are appearing in more than a hundred publications throughout the Americas, inviting readers to join the campaign by going to the Web site http://www.impunidad.com, where they can add their signature to the letter to Osorio.
In a bid to silence the press, hired gunmen have killed not only journalists but also employees with specific responsibilities for newspaper distribution, as in the case of Obando, who was in charge of distribution of the newspaper El Nuevo Día in Ibagué, Tolima province. Stopping the public from receiving the newspaper is another form of restricting press freedom.
One afternoon in March 2002, as Obando was crossing the town square, she was accosted by the local chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, nicknamed Donald. He told Obando to stop distributing the paper because it contained a series of reports on an “agrarian reform” being carried out by the FARC and alleging that the guerrillas were abusing and oppressing local people and recruiting minors.
Given the risks, the newspaper stopped distributing in the area. Apparently that was not enough, as four months later Obando was heading home when she was forced off a bus by a group of armed men and shot at the roadside. She was left there mortally wounded and died later in the San Rafael Hospital, in Girardi.
A year and a half later, the investigation into the crime has stalled and no arrests have been made. The newspaper has continued printing exposés “as the best homage to a woman everyone lauded for her work and her unflagging service to the community,” according to editor Antonio Melo.
The IAPA’s campaign against impunity, which is being funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, also includes investigative reporting programs, training for reporters in danger zones, and the monitoring of the state of press freedom in the Americas.
Readers who would like to sign the petition addressed to Attorney General Osorio, asking him to reactivate the investigation and inquiries into Elizabeth Obando’s death, can do so by going to http://www.impunidad.com or sending their message of support directly to the IAPA by e-mail to info@impunidad.com or by fax to (305) 635-2272.
