(FLIP/IFEX) – On 24 July 2005, Fanor Zúñiga Hurtado, a camera operator with “Mas Noticias”, a local television news programme in the western city of Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca, left the region after having received various threats since mid-March. The threats against Zúñiga were likely due to his stigmatisation at the hands of “milicianos” [armed […]
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 24 July 2005, Fanor Zúñiga Hurtado, a camera operator with “Mas Noticias”, a local television news programme in the western city of Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca, left the region after having received various threats since mid-March.
The threats against Zúñiga were likely due to his stigmatisation at the hands of “milicianos” [armed sympathisers not under the direct command] of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) guerrilla group.
According to the complaint Zúñiga filed with the Buenaventura Ombudsman’s office (Personería), the first threat was made on 13 March. A stranger approached Zúñiga’s wife and told her, “Tell your husband to watch himself, [he’s spending all his time doing things that he could get him killed].” According to Zúñiga, this warning was made after he had taken photos of fighting between the militia members and police in a Buenaventura neighbourhood.
In mid-April Zúñiga, who is also the producer of “Mas Noticias”, received five videos from the FARC, who pressured him to air them. There was so much pressure that the news programme spent 20 seconds of its broadcast explaining its reasons for not broadcasting the images.
The last threat occurred after “Más Noticias” decided not to cover the capture of a demobilised member of a paramilitary group. Zúñiga was told that the militia were irritated with him, saying that if the capture had been of a guerrilla, the news programme would have covered it. He was also warned of a possible attempt on his life, and threatened with a grenade attack on the news programme facilities. Zúñiga resigned from his job as cameraman, which he had held for over 10 years, after contacting a FARC member who confirmed the threats.
FLIP condemns the threats, and reaffirms the importance of all Colombian reporters being able to carry out their work without fear of being forced to leave their home regions. FLIP also calls on the Prosecutor General to investigate and identify those responsible for the threats.
