(CPJ/IFEX) – Seven cameramen and reporters kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were released on 2 November 1999. **Updates IFEX alerts of 2 November and 28 October 1999** The journalists were set free in the afternoon of 2 November near Barrancabermeja, an important oil-refining center. Concern for the journalists’ safety had been […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – Seven cameramen and reporters kidnapped by the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were released on 2 November 1999.
**Updates IFEX alerts of 2 November and 28 October 1999**
The journalists were set free in the afternoon of 2 November near
Barrancabermeja, an important oil-refining center. Concern for the
journalists’ safety had been running high since heavy fighting erupted on 16
October in the area where they were held hostage.
Reuters stringer Henry Romero remains in rebel captivity. Romero was
kidnapped on 26 October by another rebel group, the National Liberation Army
(ELN), because he photographed an ELN commander without his trademark
red-and-black face mask.
FARC’s Unit 24 detained the seven journalists on Friday 29 October after
inviting them to cover the displacement of farmers by right-wing
paramilitary units operating in the south of Bolívar Department.
According to one of the journalists, Ademir Luna, the rebels compelled them
to march long distances in order to visit villages where they heard farmers
denouncing alleged paramilitary atrocities.
Colombian journalists have been united in denouncing these heavy-handed
efforts to influence coverage of the civil war. “Today, the Colombian press
is being held hostage,” wrote Francisco Santos, news editor of the Bogotá
daily “El Tiempo” in a 31 October editorial. “If the journalist isn’t free,
his work isn’t either.”
“While CPJ welcomes the release of the seven journalists, we remain
extremely concerned for the safety of Reuters photographer Henry Romero,”
said CPJ Americas program coordinator Marylene Smeets. “We urge the ELN to
release him immediately.”
