Foundation for Press Freedom – FLIP

(FLIP/IFEX) – On 8 February 2003, photojournalist Herminso Ruiz, of the weekly “El Espectador”, was beaten by Metropolitan Police officers while covering the bomb attack on the El Nogal club, in northern Bogotá. According to the latest official figures, the attack left 33 people dead and 157 wounded. The photographer arrived at the scene in […]

(FLIP/IPYS/IFEX) – On 28 January 2003, an RCN Television crew and a freelance photographer were released near Tame, Arauca department. They were kept in captivity for 38 hours by guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC). According to police and RCN Television executives, the guerrillas stole the journalists’ […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – On 18 January 2003, journalist Abdel Martínez and photojournalist Raúl Lopez, both of “Vanguardia Liberal” newspaper, were detained for about 15 minutes and forced to erase photographs they had taken of Valledupar’s National Penitentiary. Valledupar is the capital of Cesar department, in northern Colombia. The order was given by the prison warden, who […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – On 17 January 2003, at 10:30 a.m. (local time), photographer Danilo Sarmiento and journalist Jorge Enrique Meléndez, both of the daily “El Tiempo”, were held at the XVIII Brigade military base, in Arauca. Moreover, Sarmiento’s photographs were destroyed. At the time of the incident, Sarmiento was at the entrance to the base, along […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – On 16 December 2002, at 8:45 p.m. (local time), there was an explosion at the RCN radio station’s studio, in Valledupar, capital of Cesar department. According to the Valledupar police chief, Colonel Juan Carlos Ayala, unidentified individuals threw an explosive at the station’s office. The station remained on the air despite the attack. […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – On 9 December 2002, at 10:15 p.m. (local time), a 15 kilogramme ammonia bomb exploded in the Caracol Radio studios, in the Prados del Este neighbourhood of Cúcuta. This is the third attack on the media in Cúcuta in less than a month. The transmission antenna and signal box were damaged in the […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – Gimbler Perdomo Zamora, aged 32, manager of Panorama Stereo radio station and a former town councillor, was assassinated on 1 December 2002. The murder took place at approximately 10:00 p.m. (local time), in Gigante, a municipality located 72 kilometres from Neiva, capital of Huila department, in southwestern Colombia. Perdomo and his wife, Sandra […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – On 26 November 2002, a taped message, allegedly recorded by National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberacion Nacional, ELN) guerrillas, was delivered to Radio Catatumbo station, an RCN radio network affiliate in Ocaña. In the message, the ELN urges the municipality’s media outlets to “report impartially or else face attacks,” similar to those against […]