(IPYS/IFEX) – In less than one week, three journalists were assassinated in Colombia. The most recent incident occurred on 3 May 2001, World Press Freedom Day, in Cali, in the country’s western region, when three armed men shot Yesid Marulanda Romero, aged 31. The journalist left his house early in the morning and headed for […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – In less than one week, three journalists were assassinated in Colombia. The most recent incident occurred on 3 May 2001, World Press Freedom Day, in Cali, in the country’s western region, when three armed men shot Yesid Marulanda Romero, aged 31.
The journalist left his house early in the morning and headed for the Cali University of Santiago (Universidad Santiago de Cali, USACA) in the city’s southern region. After attending his law classes, at 11:00 a.m. (local time), he was shot six times as he was returning to las Acacias neighbourhood.
Marulanda, a sportscaster, well-known in media circles in Cali, died at 11:30 a.m. as a result of the shooting.
The journalist was born in Cali. In the last ten years, he had been working for the Noticiero del Pacífico news programme, which is broadcast on the weekend via the regional Telepacífico television channel.
A witness told IPYS’ correspondent in Colombia that she saw three men get out of a Ford van and shoot the journalist at point-blank range. The police found three cartridges fired from a nine millimetre gun at the scene.
The journalist’s body was left on the street for nearly an hour. At first no one could identify him. Finally, Marco Ayala, photojournalist for the daily “El Caleño”, arrived at the scene to report on what had happened and recognised his friend and colleague from the Sportscasters’ Circle (Círculo de Cronistas Deportivos, Acord) of the Valle del Cauca department.
María Isabel Ortega, reporter for Notipacífico, told IPYS that they had not been aware of any threats against the journalist. Marulanda began studying law earlier this year.
On the night of Wednesday 2 May, the journalist was spotted at the soccer game between Cali and Boca Juniors. He was in the Acord Valle booth with an unidentified blond woman. Marulanda was single and lived alone.
The Valle del Cauca police department said an investigation into the incident would be launched but refrained from putting forth any hypotheses about the murderers’ identity or motive.
On 27 April, Flavio Bedoya, correspondent for the weekly “Voz” in Tumaco, in the country’s southern region, was also killed. His murder is believed to have been carried out by armed groups of the extreme right. He had received threats for his journalistic work and his reports on the presence of paramilitaries of the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC) (see IFEX alerts of 7 and 2 May and 30 April 2001).
On 1 May, Carlos Alberto Trespalacios Yalí, director of communications for the Medellín Municipality Sports and Recreation Institute (Instituto de Deportes y Recreacion de Medellín, INDER), in Colombia’s north-west, was murdered. Trespalacios had reported receiving threats to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, but the cause of the threats is not known.
Of these three assassinations, thus far it appears that only Bedoya was killed for reasons linked to his profession as a journalist. There is still a lot of uncertainty in the other two cases.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
– calling on them to launch an investigation into the motives and those responsible for the murders of Marulanda, Bedoya and Trespalacios
– noting that most crimes against journalists have remained unpunished and urging them to ensure that tangible results will be achieved in all three cases
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:
Andrés Pastrana Arango
President of the Republic
Carrera 8 No. 7-26, Bogotá
Fax: +571 336 21 09 / 286 79 37 / 286 74 34
E-mail: pastrana@presidencia.gov.co
Alfonso Gomez Méndez
Attorney General
Diagonal 22B No. 52-01
Fax: +571 570 20 00, ext. 1587
E-mail: contacto@fiscalia.gov.co
Senator Gabriel Zapata
President of the Senate’s Human Rights Commission
Carrera 7 No. 8-68, Oficina 707, edificio nuevo del Congreso
Fax: +571 350 1031
E-mail: zapatagei@senado.gov.co
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
