(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Nicolas Rodríguez Bautista, commander of the National Liberation Army (Ejército Nacional de Liberacion, ELN), RSF protested the kidnapping of Andrés Gil, Gustavo González and Pedro Pinto, correspondent, cameraman and camera assistant for RCN television station, respectively. The organisation called on the head of the ELN to “immediately release the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Nicolas Rodríguez Bautista, commander of the National Liberation Army (Ejército Nacional de Liberacion, ELN), RSF protested the kidnapping of Andrés Gil, Gustavo González and Pedro Pinto, correspondent, cameraman and camera assistant for RCN television station, respectively. The organisation called on the head of the ELN to “immediately release the three journalits” and to “respect Article 3 of the Geneva Convention which condemns the taking of hostages ‘who are not directly participating in conflict’, such as journalists”. “The repeated kidnapping of journalists in Colombia profoundly threatens journalists’ right to inform and the Colombian people’s right to be informed,” stated Robert Ménard, RSF’s secretary-general, who recalled that thirty-three journalists have been kidnapped in Colombia during the last three years.
According to information obtained by RSF, Gil, González and Pinto were kidnapped on 5 October 2000 by members of the ELN, while they were covering the armed group’s seizure of control over a part of the highway from Bogota to Medellin. At 6:00 a.m. (local time), several members of the ELN intercepted and detained the three journalists, invoking an order by commander Timo Leon, head of the Carlos Alirio Buitrago Front of the ELN. Two hours later, in a telephone conversation with the station’s staff, Leon explained that he blamed the press for not reporting on the ELN’s disclosure of information about human rights abuses committed by the army. He also explained that he would hand over the journalists to a human rights delegation that was supposed to be visiting the region and would make contact with him, although he did not give any details about who would be taking part in the delegation.
The kidnapping of Gil, González and Pinto brings the total number of kidnapped journalists in Colombia to thirty-three since 1998. The majority of these kidnappings (thirty-two) were committed by guerrila groups, most often to force the media to distribute a press release or condemn actions perpetrated by paramilitary organisations.
