(IPYS/IFEX) – On 28 July 2000, journalists from a number of different media were assaulted in downtown Lima, during the third day of the Marcha de los Cuatro Suyos demonstration. The first two days of the march had been peaceful. The violence was attributed to the police’s overly aggressive reaction towards the protesters, and to […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 28 July 2000, journalists from a number of different media were assaulted in downtown Lima, during the third day of the Marcha de los Cuatro Suyos demonstration. The first two days of the march had been peaceful. The violence was attributed to the police’s overly aggressive reaction towards the protesters, and to a minority group of demonstrators, which the opposition asserts infiltrated the march. The studios of a number of media, such as América TV – Canal 4, Panamericana TV – Canal 5 and Radio Programas del Perú (RPP), were also targetted.
According to the 29 July reports published in “El Comercio” and “Expreso” dailies, numerous journalists were assaulted while reporting on events taking place in the centre of Lima. Among those affected were: Miguel Carrillo and José Tejada of the “etecé” magazine; Roberto Silva of RPP; Guillermo Venegas and Virgilio Grajeda of “La República” daily; Fidel Carrillo of “Liberacion” daily; Luis Choy and Carlos Lezama of “Ojo” daily; Josué Ibarra of “La Industria de Trujillo”; Jaime Rázuri of the Agence France-Presse agency, and others.
IPYS was able to interview some of the journalists.
Miguel Carrillo, a reporter with “etecé” magazine, informed IPYS that as he was photographing demonstrators near the University Park, near the former location of the Ministry of Education, a group of fifteen persons rushed at him, threw him to the ground and began to kick and insult him. His photographic equipment and the gas mask he was wearing for protection were taken from him. The assailants fled when the police – who, according to Carrillo, were quite far away – fired a tear gas bomb which landed close to the journalist. As a result of the assault, the journalist suffered bruises and a small cut to his head.
José Tejada, also with “etecé” magazine, was attacked twice in under two hours. In an interview with IPYS, he stated that near Abancay avenue, near the former location of the Ministry of Education, a group of approximately twenty protesters who were trying to approach the building hit him lightly and insulted him. Apparently they were trying to intimidate him and thus prevent him from photographing them, but they did not take any of his reporting equipment. Subsequently, Tejada headed towards the Plaza de Armas square. There, outside the governmental palace, Tejada and other reporters were taking photographs of a protester who had fainted and who was being carried away by his friends, when police officers arrived at the scene. The police began beating Tejada with rubber sticks, injuring and bruising the journalist and seriously damaging his camera.
Guillermo Venegas, a photojournalist with “La República” daily, was cornered by a group of demonstrators. According to Venegas, they took his gas mask and hit his photographic equipment. The journalist was not hurt in the incident.
Roberto Silva, a reporter with RPP, informed IPYS that as he was reporting live on the events for an international radio station, a woman pointed to him, saying that he was an infiltrator working for the National Intelligence Service (Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional, SIN). Even though he showed his press card, this was snatched away from him and he was hit lightly.
Rosario Vicentello, a reporter with the Betoasaber programme aired on Canal A, was involved in an incident that has stirred up a lot of attention. In a report aired on the night of 28 July on Betoasaber, the reporter is shown being assaulted by an unjustifiably aggressive police officer, who sprayed her in the face with a paralysing gas. Subsequent to the incident, the journalist has had a number of problems with her eye. At the time, she had been trying to prevent a young man, who said he was a journalist, from being arrested.
Attacks against the media
One the first media to be targetted was the headquarters of América Television Canal 4. According to “El Comercio”, approximately 500 vandals destroyed some of the station’s plate glass windows and assaulted the employees and security guards.
Subsequently, the RPP studio was similarly attacked by individuals who were carrying sticks, iron bars and knives.
Juan Pillaca, the driver of an ATV Canal 9 mobile unit, was attacked by a mob which beat him, forced him to get out of the van, and then took off with the vehicle. About forty minutes afterwards, the van was found, half stripped down and abandoned a few blocks away. Cables, a tripod, batteries and a reporter’s money were missing from the vehicle, according to a testimony given to IPYS by Rubén Trujillo, general press director for ATV.
In a press release, the Peruvian Radio and Television Association (Asociacion de Radio y Television del Perú, ARTV), strongly protested against these incidents and stated that it holds responsible Alejandro Toledo and the Organising Committee of the Marcha de los Cuatro Suyos. ARTV added that it reserved the right to file charges, if it felt this was appropriate.
Finally, Canal N, the only television channel which reported on the march and on the events which transpired on the day of President Fujimori’s inauguration, was also the victim of an attack. At 3:30 a.m. (local time) on 29 July, a blue car without licence plates and with tinted windows stopped in front of the station’s door and the guard was warned to “watch out”. Twenty minutes later, a white vehicle without licence plates and with tinted windows, stopped in front of the station and four shots were fired in the air.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
– calling for an investigation of the incidents and all attacks against the press
– urging them to ensure that the investigation will be impartial
– asking that those responsible be punished
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:
Ing. Alberto Fujimori Fujimori
President of the Republic
Fax: +51 1 427 6722 / 426 6535
Dr. Federico Salas Guevara Shultz
President of the Council of Ministers
Fax: +51 1 447 1628 / 475 0689
Dr. Martha Hildebrandt Pérez
President of Congress
Fax: +51 1 426 8290
Dr. Blanca Nélida Colán
Attorney General
Fax: +51 1 426 2474
Gral. EP Walter Chacon Málaga
Minister of the Interior
Fax: +51 1 224 2405
Lieutenant General Fernando Dianderas Otonne
Director General of the Peruvian National Police
Fax: +51 1 225 1775
Jorge Santistevan de Noriega
Ombudsman
Fax: +51 1 426 6657
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
