(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 15 December 2005 IAPA press release: IAPA, Colombia reach agreement on solving journalist’s murder Bogotá, Colombia (December 15, 2005) – As the result of negotiations held under the auspices of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), IAPA and the Colombian government have reached an agreement that will allow […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 15 December 2005 IAPA press release:
IAPA, Colombia reach agreement on solving journalist’s murder
Bogotá, Colombia (December 15, 2005) – As the result of negotiations held under the auspices of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), IAPA and the Colombian government have reached an agreement that will allow investigations to move ahead into the April 16, 1998 murder of journalist Nelson Carvajal.
The “amicable agreement” was reached on 14 December during a meeting at the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs between government officials and IAPA representatives. The IACHR stepped into the process in response to a 2002 presentation by IAPA that highlighted the serious irregularities in the inquiries into the case and decried the fact that the murder continued to go unpunished.
Enrique Santos Calderón, chairman of IAPA’s Committee on Impunity, said, “Our organization can be pleased with the result of this meeting but we will continue to keep a close eye on the process, because what is important is that this case be solved completely, as should the cases of other such crimes against journalists.”
In the meeting, progress made since the two negotiating parties last met in Washington, D.C., in October, was noted. Since that meeting, the Office of the Colombian Attorney General assigned the matter to its Human Rights Unit in Bogotá and appointed a new public prosecutor to investigate the case. It was also noted that Attorney General Mario Iguarán planned to reactivate a unit that had been dealing with cases of crimes against journalists.
IAPA asked that protection be provided to members of Carvajal’s family, who have recently been receiving threats. It stressed the need to include the Solicitor General’s Office – responsible for overseeing the conduct of public officials – in the working group. It also underlined the need for an investigation to determine who was responsible for the irregularities in the prior investigation into the case, and to look at what legal, administrative or judicial measures might be taken to combat the impunity that surrounds the murders of many other journalists.
After setting a timeline for its work, the group scheduled a follow-up meeting for the second week of April.
The government was represented by Clara Inés Vargas from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, María Fernanda Cabal, director of International Affairs in the Attorney General’s Office, Marisol Palacio, director of the Human Rights Unit, and Luz Gil García from the Ministry of Defense. Participating from IAPA were Santos Calderón, co-editor of the Bogotá daily newspaper El Tiempo, Ricardo Trotti, director of Press Freedom, and Dian Calderón, investigator in Colombia for the Rapid Response Unit.
Carvajal, a teacher as well as a journalist, was killed in Pitalito, Huila province, Colombia, reportedly in reprisal for his exposure of local governmental corruption. He was host of the “Noticiero Momento Regional” (“News of the Region”) news program and the radio programmes “Mirador de la Semana” (“Weekly Review”), “Amanecer en el Campo” (“Dawn in the Countryside”) and “Tribuna Médica” (“Medical Tribune”), broadcast by Radio Sur.
