Colombia

(CPJ/IFEX) – On 8 November 1997, journalist Francisco Castro Menco was shot dead by unidentified individuals in his home in Majagual, a town in the department of Sucre. Castro was president of the Fundacion Cultural, a radio station that had recently been granted a licence by the Ministry of Communications. He hosted a daily program […]

(IAPA/IFEX) – The dismembered body of Alejandro Jaramillo, 67, was discovered in Pasto, a town in southeastern Colombia, on 1 November 1997. Jaramillo had joined the staff of “Diario del Sur” in Pasto two months ago and reported on crime and judicial issues. He had previously worked for the newspapers “El Pais”, “El Caleno” and […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On 6 October 1997, Ricardo Velez, cameraman for the television program “Noticiero 12:30”, which is broadcast on the television station Cadena A, was assaulted by an armed individual who threatened him in the street and ordered him to leave Colombia. Velez has been threatened several times, allegedly by military officials, since August 1996, […]

On 20 October 1996, Manuel Vicente Pena Gomez, a journalist for the popular daily “La Prensa de Bogota”, was the target of several gunmen. Pena was driving in his car when another automobile pulled up and opened fire with automatic weapons. Since he was driving an armoured car, however, Pena did not sustain any injuries. […]

On 18 October 1996, Norvey Diaz, director of the program “Rondando por los barrios” on Radio Colina, was killed in Girardot, a resort town 135 km from Bogota. Diaz had left home to attend a meeting. He was last seen alive in a street in the company of a young woman. His body was found […]

During the 29 August 1996 attack on several journalists who were covering a demonstration by coca cultivators in the Caqueta department of Colombia, soldiers fired on five Colombian journalists, all of whom were clearly identified as journalists by brightly coloured flak jackets marked with the names of their news organisations. The journalists fired upon are: […]

The Colombian government has instituted an official censorship decree aimed at television news programs in the country. The National Television Committee (CNT) ordered the programs to abstain from transmitting non-official information that “aggravates public order.” The CNT took this step on 23 August 1996 in response to news programs which aired coverage of clashes between […]

On 29 August 1996, Luis Gonzalo Velez, a cameraman for the television news program “Colombia 12:30”, which broadcasts on the public channel Cadena 1, was assaulted by several soldiers as he was covering confrontations between the soldiers and coca producers in Caqueta department, in southern Colombia. According to footage broadcast the same day, Velez was […]

On 22 August 1996, journalist Amparo Jimenez and cameraman Jose Coronado, who work for the television station QAP Noticias, were detained by police and, shortly after, were targets of death threats by a paramilitary group. The two men, correspondents in the city of Valledupar, capital of Cesar department, had just finished covering the occupation of […]

**See also IFEX CH press release dated 5 June 1995** The CPJ is deeply concerned about the impact on Colombia’s press freedom by an anti-corruption law passed by the Senate on 30 May 1995. The Anti-corruption statute is worrisome because one of its articles, No. 34, would prevent journalists from reporting on investigations and legal […]

**Updates IFEX CH alert dated 11 April 1995** On 11 April 1995 CPJ sent a protest letter to Colombian President Ernesto Samper expressing concern over recent threats and attacks against Colombian journalists in the cities of Cali and Valledupar, Colombia. According to Colombian reporters, national correspondents reporting on recent anti-drug sweeps in Cali have been […]