Articles by Foundation for Press Freedom – FLIP
Media outlets concerned over potential blocking of their websites, suspicious electrical cuts take place at radio station
(FLIP/IFEX) – Several community-based media outlets, belonging to indigenous groups in the department of Cauca, have said that their websites have been blocked and suspicious cuts of electricity services have taken place at a radio station in the same area. The incidents took place at the same time as demonstrations by the indigenous population which […]
Journalist assaulted and threatened in Putumayo
(FLIP/IFEX) – On Sunday 5 October 2008, Mishelle Johana Muñoz, a journalist and announcer for the program ‘Latina Estéreo’ in the city of Puerto Asís, Putumayo, was brutally beaten by a person who entered the facilities. Several days prior, Muñoz had received threats that demanded that she stop supporting the national campaign to increase the […]
Supreme Court rules that refusal to provide information for reasons of “national security” must be fully justified
(FLIP/IFEX) – The Colombian Supreme Court has ordered the country’s National Army to fulfill a journalist’s request for information and has indicated that refusals by government institutions to provide information for reasons of “national security” must be fully explained. On 23 April 2008, the journalist submitted an access to information request asking for details about […]
Bill to eliminate jail terms for slander and libel presented by Congress member
(FLIP/IFEX) – The following is an abridged version of a 4 September 2008 FLIP press release: Debate on defamation in Colombia On 2 September, Member of Congress Roy Barreras presented a bill that would eliminate jail terms and would establish the application of fines as the primary penalty in cases of slander and libel. Although […]
Several journalists victims of judicial actions violating source confidentiality or intended to silence criticism
(FLIP/IFEX) – The following is an abridged version of a 25 August 2008 FLIP press release: In recent weeks, information has emerged about a number of legal processes currently underway involving members of the press, either as defendants or as witnesses, and statements from government officials calling for investigations into the conduct of certain journalists: […]
Journalists jeopardised by soldier’s impersonation of Telesur television crew member during hostage rescue operation, warns FLIP
(FLIP/IFEX) – The following is a 24 July 2008 FLIP press release: In public statements on 23 July 2008, Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos acknowledged that the Colombian Army appropriated Telesur international television station’s logo during the Army’s recent operation to rescue 15 people held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias […]
Journalists in Arauca receive threats while covering “March for Liberty”
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 20 July 2008, several journalists who were covering a protest against kidnappings, called the “March for Liberty”, in the city of Arauca and in Saravena municipality, Arauca department, received threatening messages, presumed to be from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia’s (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) Tenth Front. (The FARC is […]
Soldiers obstruct journalists’ work in San Vicente del Caguán, attempt to intimidate them with gunshots
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 5 July 2008, a group of soldiers prevented several journalists from covering events in the rural area of San Vicente del Caguán, Caquetá, in southern Colombia, in addition to attempting to intimidate them by firing gunshots into the air. The journalists arrived in the area where two soldiers had just been killed […]