(IPYS/IFEX) – On the night of 24 May 2000, journalist Fabián Salazar Olivares was tortured, allegedly by agents of the National Intelligence Service (Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional (SIN). Salazar is a former executive at Frecuencia Latina – Canal 2 under the previous management of Baruch Ivcher, a contributor to “La República” daily and currently in […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On the night of 24 May 2000, journalist Fabián Salazar Olivares was tortured, allegedly by agents of the National Intelligence Service (Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional
(SIN). Salazar is a former executive at Frecuencia Latina – Canal 2 under the previous management of Baruch Ivcher, a contributor to “La República” daily and currently in charge of promotions and public relations for Colchones Paríso (Paríso Mattresses) – also owned by Ivcher. According to the journalist, four individuals entered his office, located on Ica street no 388, suite 502, in the centre of Lima, and took away some of his material which included videos. The videos show the president of the National Elections Jury (Jurado Nacional de Elecciones, JNE), Alipio Montes de Oca, and Romulo Muñoz Arce, member of the JNE, entering the SIN offices.
A few hours after the attack, Salazar underwent surgery in the San Felipe clinic. In an interview with the journalist held in the clinic, IPYS was able to confirm the information reported on 25 May in the country’s main media, including the dailies “El Comercio” and “La República”. According to the reports, Salazar received the videos and other documentation implicating intelligence advisor Vladimiro Montesinos, a few minutes before the four individuals came into his office. According to Salazar, journalists Jorge Morelli, of the News Cable Channel (Channel 10), and Augusto Bresani, allegedly governmental press advisor, are seen meeting with Montesinos in the video. Furthermore, Manuel Saavedra, of the polling company CPI, a high ranking official of Ibope, a company which measures ratings, and José Francisco Crousillat, a high ranking executive of América Television, also appear in the video.
The journalist noted that there existed certain manuscripts implicating Bresani and those in charge of attacking Toledo in the tabloid press. The video of these images was the only documentation that the torturers failed to take with them. The journalist recognised that he had made a mistake by calling his assistant on his cellular phone, ten minutes after he received the documentation. “I called from my office to ask her to come and accompany me so that I could take it [the information] to the chief of the Organization of American States.”
Salazar stated that an individual knocked on his office door around 7p.m. (local time), identifying himself as an employee of the National Division of Tax Administration (Superintencia Nacional de Administracion Tributaria (SUNAT): “He came in, pushed me and then three others entered with him. They insulted me and forced me to sit in a chair. They put adhesive tape around my mouth, my eyes and my feet,” the journalist said. “They then communicated with others by radio informing them that they were with the ‘pen’ – in reference to the journalist’s work for ‘La República’ daily-“, he added. Once the journalist was immobilized and had been beaten, “the torturers asked me about all the material that I had received fifteen minutes previously in a parking lot.”
The journalist reported that he had received five cassettes, three diskettes, a file with documents written by Montesinos, and an agenda containing information on Ivcher dating to 1996. “They asked me who was the ‘live encyclopedia’ and very slowly began to saw my left wrist. They wanted to know who had given me the documents,” the journalist stated.
Subsequently the torturers fled, appearing fearing that the building security personnel had called for help. “They thought I had passed out and left me there, but I managed to drag myself along and get to a safe place,” the journalist stated, adding that he had received the material from an individual connected to the SIN.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
– asking for an exhaustive investigation into the attack against the journalist, and asking that those responsible for the attack be punished
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori
President of the Republic
Fax: +51 1 427 6722 / 426 6535
Alberto Bustamante Belaunde
President of the Council of Ministers
Fax: +51 1 447 1628 / 475 0689
Blanca Nélida Colán Maguiño
Attorney General
Fax: +51 1 426 2474
Jorge Santistevan de Noriega
Ombudsman
Fax: +51 1 426 6657
Lieutenant General Fernando Dianderas Otonne
Director General of the Peruvian National Police
Fax: +51 1 225 1775
José Villanueva Ruesta
General Commander of the Armed Forces
Fax: +51 1 436 1423 / 435 4623
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
