(IPYS/IFEX) – Italian journalist Luis Galdós and Colombian journalist Hallman Morris have reported that they were arbitrarily detained and forced by the Colombian navy to hand over their equipment and information they had obtained. The incident took place on 1 August 2004, on the Putumayo River, in an area reportedly known for drug trafficking and […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – Italian journalist Luis Galdós and Colombian journalist Hallman Morris have reported that they were arbitrarily detained and forced by the Colombian navy to hand over their equipment and information they had obtained. The incident took place on 1 August 2004, on the Putumayo River, in an area reportedly known for drug trafficking and for having a strong guerrilla group presence.
Morris told IPYS that the incident occurred when the reporters were on a preliminary visit to the area for a documentary about “hot” borders for the English television station Channel 4. They had entered Colombia from Ecuador on 31 July and had already registered at several army and navy checkpoints.
When they were on their way back to Ecuador, however, navy personnel stopped the boat in which they were travelling, saying there was fighting in the area and that they were going to conduct a routine inspection. According to Morris, the navy personnel made the reporters board their boat, they asked for their identity documents and, after a while, told them that the pair were to be detained on orders from Bogotá. The journalists used a satellite phone to contact various individuals, who then alerted the government of the actions against them. After making the calls, the journalists were told to hand over their equipment and recordings they had made and that a helicopter was coming to take them to another place.
Two helicopters subsequently arrived and the journalists’ materials were taken away. The journalists were told the helicopters would return to pick them up. When the helicopters came back, an army intelligence office returned the confiscated materials and asked the journalists to sign a statement declaring that they had been well treated. Galdós and Morris were released without further explanation. Since it was already night time, the journalists asked if they could stay on the navy boat until the morning, when they left.
On 2 August, the Defence Ministry issued a brief statement, saying that the incident was part of a routine inspection. The ministry told IPYS that difficulties in communication had delayed the verification of the journalists’ documents. In addition, they said that Galdós’s passport did not have an entry stamp for Colombia. No reason was given for the confiscation of the journalists’ equipment and other materials. Morris said that they were not mistreated physically or verbally, but that they were never told that there was a problem with Galdós’s passport.
