(RSF/IFEX) – On 18 September 2002, RSF denounced government restrictions on foreign journalists who travel to regions of the country involved in civil war. The organisation characterised the restrictions as an attack on internationally recognised media rights. On 10 September, a presidential decree was passed, setting up “special rehabilitation and consolidation zones” in regions where […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 18 September 2002, RSF denounced government restrictions on foreign journalists who travel to regions of the country involved in civil war. The organisation characterised the restrictions as an attack on internationally recognised media rights.
On 10 September, a presidential decree was passed, setting up “special rehabilitation and consolidation zones” in regions where armed groups are active. The decree states that foreigners, including journalists, may only enter these zones with special permission from the Ministry of Defence, in order to prevent armed groups from “having contact with foreign terrorists.” Special correspondents will have to give the authorities prior notification of their movements, which may or may not be authorised, depending on the military situation.
“The possibility of journalists being refused entry into the special zones is a flagrant violation of the Inter-American Human Rights Convention, Article 13 of which guarantees freedom of movement for journalists,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard in a letter to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
The organisation called for journalists to be allowed into the zones simply upon verification of their professional status. “Either possible terrorists are prevented from entering the zones and journalists are allowed in based on their professional status, or else journalists’ activities are monitored and the decree could be used to fight a war hidden from public scrutiny,” Ménard said.
Ménard said he was also worried about the decree’s impact on the protection of journalists’ sources, since it authorises arrests, searches and phone tapping. “If such measures are applied to journalists, they will endanger the media’s impartiality,” he said.
The “special zones”, which may include 14 of the country’s 34 provinces, will be ruled by a military commander under the supervision of a governor. The governor will have eight days to decide whether to authorise entry into a zone, which may be refused “based on the public order situation.” If the official decision is disregarded, the offending journalist will be deported.
Interior Minister Fernando Londoño said the measures are meant to “stop armed groups from making contact with foreign terrorists.” Presidential Press Office chief Ricardo Galán told the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the restrictions “would not affect” foreign correspondents based in the country. These reporters have been told they can apply for a pass from the Ministry of Defence, valid until 31 December, with no guarantee of renewal.
The 2002 decree allows arrests and searches of people’s homes without a warrant in the event of an “unavoidable emergency or when a basic right is seriously or imminently endangered.” Police can also order phones to be tapped and mail intercepted with permission from a judge.
These measures are part of the national state of alert that President Uribe declared on 12 August to step up the government’s battle against communist guerrillas and far-right paramilitary groups (see IFEX alert of 13 August 2002). Three alleged members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) were arrested in August 2001 on suspicion of having trained members of the far-left Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) in urban guerrilla techniques.
