"It is very positive that President Petro is directly involving his office in addressing serious attacks against media professionals. This will allow the state to respond quickly to save lives and will send a clear message to assailants across the country about the fight against impunity for violence against journalists."
This statement was originally published on rsf.org on 21 August 2024.
When Colombian President Gustavo Petro met with Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and its Colombian partner, the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP), on 20 August, he pledged firm action on violence against journalists and undertook to open a communication channel with the two organisations so that the authorities can respond quickly to serious cases.
At this meeting in the presidential palace in Bogotá, RSF and FLIP urged the authorities to be more effective in combatting impunity for crimes of violence against journalists, pointing out that five journalists have been murdered since Petro began his term as president in August 2022, and that two of these journalists were under state protection at the time.
Recognising the importance of handling cases of violence against journalists quickly, President Petrol said: “Investigations into violence against the press demand decisive action on the part of the state.”
Petro gave RSF and FLIP an undertaking to create a direct channel of communications with them so that the president’s office can urgently address such situations, a channel that would facilitate coordination between his office, the National Protection Unity (UNP) – which provides persons threatened in Colombia with physical protection – and the defence ministry in order to provide protection and conduct investigations quickly and work with prosecutors to prioritise these cases.
Petro also reiterated his request to the UNP to guarantee a rapid response to the most serious cases – 164 journalists are currently under the Colombian state’s protection. The UNP should therefore soon begin to update its procedures for handling journalists, which date back to 2016.
“It is very positive that President Petro is directly involving his office in addressing serious attacks against media professionals. This will allow the state to respond quickly to save lives and will send a clear message to assailants across the country about the fight against impunity for violence against journalists, which threatens the right to information in Colombia.”
Artur Romeu, Director of RSF’s Latin America bureau
During this meeting, RSF and FLIP pointed out the dire consequences of violence against journalists and impunity, which lead to the emergence of regions with little or no media reporting, depriving the population of its right to news and information. They also warned that comments by senior officials vilifying media personnel put journalists in danger and contribute to the spread of violence against them across the country.
Two journalists killed, 330 press freedom violations since January
Since the start of the year, RSF has registered two journalists killed in Colombia in connection with out their reporting. while FLIP has registered 330 other press freedom violations, including 133 cases of threats, 43 verbal attacks and 11 physical attacks. Of these attacks, 81 were perpetrated by government officials and 69 by armed groups, which highlights the complexity of combating this growing phenomenon in Colombia, one of the most dangerous countries in Latin America for journalists.
The entire country is affected by this violence. According to FLIP’s data, attacks by armed groups have been carried out in 21 of the country’s 32 departments. Armed groups put pressure on journalists, intimidate them and try to influence the editorial policies of media outlets. The probability of journalists being targeted, obstructed or forced to remain silent increases when turf wars break out between armed groups.
These participating in this meeting with President Petro included RSF Latin America advocacy coordinator Bia Barbosa, FLIP executive director Jonathan Bock, members of FLIP’s board, UNP director Augusto Rodrigues Ballesteros, information and communications technology minister Mauricio Lizcano, presidential office administrative director Laura Sarabia and representatives from the communications secretariat and defence ministry.
Colombia is ranked 119th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index.
