Body count of slain journos

[Judi Lynn]

Body count of slain journos
By Ignacio Gomez

From 1978 to 2001, major newspapers of Bogota reported the assassination of 164 journalists.

On February 16, while addressing representatives of the the Foundation for the Freedom of the Press of Colombia and the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) of New York, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe cited his own government as the only one that had succeeded in reducing to near zero the number of journalists assassinated per year and concluded that this feat made him one of the leading defenders of the freedom of the press in his nation’s history.

The premise is less questionable than the conclusion: in the previous year, the ‘only’ killing was of Jose Everardo Aguilar, for doing his job; in 2002, the first year of Uribe’s presidency, six colleagues met the same fate.
But the murder of journalists, as dramatic as it may be, is not a good measure of the freedom of the press. As put by ‘New York Daily News’ columnist Juan Gonzalez, the reason for the lack of journalist killings may be that enemies of the public interest no longer need to kill them to intimidate them.

A good start

The ability to work as a journalist without fear of being assassinated is a good starting point. Colombians look with envy at the record of Argentina. In 1997, when Alfredo Yabran, a corrupt businessman and influence peddler, felt that his connections in government would allow him to murder a journalist with impunity, journalists began to wear buttons of the immolated photographer, Jose Luis Cabezas, and the word justice. Four months after the first anniversary of the journalist’s death, Yabran shot himself after being charged with the crime.

In Argentina, which underwent decades of military repression, today civil society and journalists are engaged in an ongoing discussion of the meaning of freedom of the press: guarantees of its independence, free access to information of public interest, the unrestricted distribution of official government statements and releases, etcetera. In Colombia, these are secondary issues.

Between 1978 and 2001, the major newspapers of Bogota reported the assassination of 164 journalists. This number raised the average recorded by the CPJ since it began keeping statistics in 1992, when there were 72. The question is whether these 200-plus killings were enough to create the situation that Gonzalez describes, or whether Colombia is capable of restoring an atmosphere of peace in which journalism can be freely practised — without the deaths (obviously) but also with a government that encourages criticism and understands that it is a tool for overcoming for the eventual errors of politicians.

More:
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/58559/body-count-slain-journos.html

[naaman fletcher]

1. Uribe has reduced the killing dramatically.

That fact is clear. The author offers up (quoting someone else) that "the reason for the lack of journalist killings may be that enemies of the public interest no longer need to kill them to intimidate them."

Yet, no evidence is offered of that.

Score one for Uribe (Who I don't like, but the fact is that crime is way down in Colombia while crime is way up in Venezuela).

[Peace Patriot]

2. "Army Mass Grave in La Macarena"--up to 2,000 bodies found, grave dates 2005 thru 2009

The thing is that they don't include the official slaughter in crime statistics.

"Residents say that after it entered the strongly guerrilla-controlled zone in the mid-2000s, Colombia’s Army began dumping unidentified bodies in a mass grave near a local cemetery. The grave may contain as many as 2,000 bodies."

The La Macarena massacre (includes a description of, and links to docs about, U.S. ops in La Macarena)
http://www.cipcol.org/?p=1303

The UK military connection
http://www.tribunemagazine.co.uk/2010/02/04/silence-on-british-army-link-to-colombian-mass-grave/

[naaman fletcher]

5. That's nice, but what does it have to do with the article about slain journalists? nt

[EFerrari]

3. That must be some other Colombia where there are no mass graves

or crematoria.

[naaman fletcher]

6. What does that have to do with the number of slain journalists? nt.

[Judi Lynn]

4. After so many journalists have been killed, or have fled, the remaining journalists

admit they SELF-CENSOR in order to avoid getting murdered.

It's been covered extensively, they have even discussed it interviews with foreign journalists.

Self-censorship threatens journalism in Colombia
31.07.2009


As the only media alliance in Colombia, PAN's role is to map out all the organisations and activities that support media and freedom of expression in Colombia to ensure coordination, collaboration and a stronger impact.

Safety a major concern
- Self-censorship is the biggest challenge facing Colombian media today, a result of the lack of physical safety for journalists, weak economic support of media and a deeply rooted culture of secrecy, says Ms. Paola Valderrama.

- Safety continues to be the main concern. Because of the conflict, travelling in the countryside and reporting from different regions can be dangerous. Part of PAN's role as an alliance promoting the rights of journalists, freedom of information and access to information, is to improve the conditions for journalistic practices.

According to a May 2009 report about media in Colombia from Reporters without Borders, the number of murdered journalists has fallen during Alvaro Uribe's seven year presidency, but journalists continue to be forced into exile by paramilitaries. (http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/49fea98428.html).

Local journalists are still vulnerable to reprisals from armed groups, wiretapping of their phones and emails and suffer death threats. Self-censorship by journalists is thought to have been a factor in the reduction of murder rate.

More:
http://www.i-m-s.dk/article/self-censorship-threatens-journalism-colombia

~~~~~~~

Self-censorship as self-defense
By Anastasia Moloney
Posted Oct 1 2005

At first glance, the city of Barrancabermeja in northern Colombia appears serene. Fisher-men gently wade their boats along the picturesque Rio Magdalena. The locals eat in riverside cafes under colorful, large umbrellas or chat idly on their porches while gently swinging in rocking chairs.
But a closer look reveals that Barrancabermeja is a battleground between leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries in an area where state authority is weak. The town is a lethal melting point of Colombia's internal armed conflict. It is in this context of violence that some 50 journalists work in a perilous existence in the city's 14 media outlets.

In Colombia, the taboo subjects that journalists avoid covering in fear of reprisal vary in each region. In Barrancabermeja, reporting about the strict dress codes paramilitaries use as a form of social control is off-limits. Other sensitive topics include the theft of oil from the city's oil refinery, allegedly by paramilitaries working in collusion with state agents. Most journalists consider such issues too hot to handle and fear that those they incriminate and denounce will later seek retribution.

Such fears are well-founded. During the past 10 years, 31 journalists have been murdered in Colombia for carrying out their jobs, and dozens have been forced into exile, according to the New York-based press freedom organization, Committee for the Protection of Journalists.

But last year was the first in decades in which no journalist was killed or kidnapped in Colombia. Despite this decline, the press continues to be muzzled, and scores of journalists are threatened and harassed by the paramilitaries and guerrilla groups. Acts of sabotage against media installations, including the recent bombing of the RCN news network studios in Cali last February, show that the press continues to be the target of violent attacks.

Carlos Lauria, Americas program director at the CPJ says, “Despite recent improvements, Colombia still remains one of the most hostile countries in the Americas for the press.”

Last April, in response to a spate of threats against journalists in Barrancabermeja, a delegation of local and international press freedom organizations visited the city on a fact-finding mission. They concluded that “reporters lived in a climate of intimidation that inhibits the freedom of press.” Journalists were increasingly relying on official government press releases as their only source, they said, and more alarmingly, are practicing self-censorship as a form of protection.

“The decrease in attacks against journalists reflects a custom of self-censorship, especially in the country's interior,” explains Lauria.

More:
http://www.globaljournalist.org/stories/2005/10/01/self-censorship-as-self-defense/

[Judi Lynn]

16. Kicking for higher visibility for this answer to post #1. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

7. Threatened on all sides, Colombia's news media muzzle themselves.

http://www.cpj.org.nyud.net:8090/Briefings/2005/DA_fall05/colombia/colombia_DA_title.gif
MONTERIA, Colombia

The main suspect in Orlando Benítez’s murder was never in doubt. Benítez, a lawmaker here in the northwestern province of Córdoba, was preparing to run for mayor of a municipality controlled for years by Diego Murillo Bejarano, a paramilitary chief known as “Don Berna.” Murillo, once a close associate of drug lord Pablo Escobar, hadn’t given the campaign his blessing.

The local and national press reported briefly on a police announcement of the hit, in which five men gunned down Benítez, his sister, and his driver on April 10. But the press didn’t mention Murillo or subject the triple murder to any significant investigation. “No journalist tried to check into what everyone suspected,” says Gustavo Santiago, news director of the Caracol Radio affiliate in Montería, the provincial capital. “It could have cost you your life.”

It takes mettle to be a journalist in this Andean nation riven for decades by a war that pits government and paramilitary forces against leftist guerrillas, by international syndicates that enable Colombia to supply most of the world’s cocaine and much of its heroin, and by an array of underworld organizations that control contraband, extort from businesses, and manipulate public officials.

In this case, news outlets feared reprisals not only from Murillo, who insists he had nothing to do with the assassination, but from President Alvaro Uribe’s government, which had suspended arrest warrants for the warlord as part of negotiations to demobilize paramilitaries. The talks had dragged on for more than two years, lately in a paramilitary haven the government set up just a few miles from the murder. Naming Murillo as the suspect would have focused attention on violations of a “ceasefire” the paramilitaries declared for the talks. And it would have fueled international criticism of Uribe-backed legislation awarding judicial leniency to paramilitaries who disarm.

Two weeks after the assassination, authorities finally broke the silence, announcing a fresh arrest warrant for Murillo. Even then, few news outlets explored the paramilitary chief's alleged role in any depth. One fear, Santiago notes, was that journalists would end up having to testify against him.

Such hands-off treatment is pervasive in Colombia, a Committee to Protect Journalists investigation has found. Interviews with three dozen news professionals show that media outlets and journalists across the country routinely censor themselves in fear of physical retaliation from all sides in the nation's conflict.

At least 30 Colombian journalists have been murdered over the past decade for their work. "We love our profession, but we're human," says Carmen Rosa Pabón, news director of Voz de Cinaruco, the Caracol Radio affiliate in the northeastern city of Arauca. "Threats and killings make us afraid. To survive, we have to limit ourselves."

On some occasions, verified news is suppressed shortly before broadcast or publication. In other cases, probing journalists are killed, detained, or forced to flee. More often, investigations never even get started. The issues shortchanged are human rights abuses, armed conflict, political corruption, drug trafficking, and links from officials to illegal armed groups. Journalists end up focusing instead on "pleasant topics like fauna and flora," says Angel María León, news chief of Arauca's RCN Radio affiliate.

Communities pay a high price. "Any region without investigative journalism is going to have impunity," says Jaime Vides Feria of Radio Caracolí in Sincelejo, a provincial capital near the Caribbean coast.

And the self-censorship has international dimensions. The Uribe administration, for example, is pushing for U.S. and European funding of a $130 million plan to reintegrate the demobilized paramilitaries into society. But foreign taxpayers can hardly judge whether the plan might bring peace if the press doesn't dare investigate drug trafficking by paramilitaries or their civilian attacks. More:
http://cpj.org/reports/2005/10/colombia-da-fall-05.php

[rabs]

8. Add one more journo to the list

Clodomiro Castillo, editor of a magazine in the Colombian city of Monteria.

Two "sicarios" (hitmen) showed up at his home and shot him to death using guns with silencers because neighbors said they did not hear any shots. He was known for denouncing administrative wrongdoing.

----------------------------

eltiempo.com / colombia / caribe

Asesinan al periodista Clodomiro Castillo, director de la revista 'Pulso del tiempo' de Montería
El homicidio se produjo cuando dos sicarios llegaron a la casa de la víctima y le dispararon.

El crimen ocurrió en la casa del periodista de la emisora 'La Voz' , ubicada en la urbanización 'el Puente', en la ciudad de Montería.

Según las primeras versiones, al comunicador le habrían disparado con un arma con silenciador. Vecinos del sector señalaron que no escucharon nada y solo se alertaron al verlo tendido en el suelo.

El periodista se había caracterizado por hacer denuncias relacionadas con temas administrativos.

Noticia en desarrollo...

MONTERÍA

[Judi Lynn]

9. What a shame. They have killed another good person, more courageous and honest than they. Thanks. nt

[rabs]

11. Uribito today offered a 26,300 dollar reward

for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for killing the journalist.

(Then he went to his desk and wrote himself a check for that amount) :evilgrin:

From El Espectador newspaper today:

El presidente colombiano, Álvaro Uribe, ofreció una recompensa de 26.300 dólares por información que permita capturar a los responsables del asesinato de un periodista que era reconocido por revelar los nexos entre dirigentes políticos y paramilitares en el departamento de Córdoba.

The journalist was known for denouncing the ties between the local politicians and the urubista paramilitaries in Cordoba province, reported to be pals of alvarito.

(One of the paramilitaries has a mansion with a lawn that features a huge, artificial rock with a swimming pool, jacuzzi and other luxuries inside it.)

[Judi Lynn]

10. Rabs. the story got published in English today: "Newspaper publisher shot dead in Colombia"

Newspaper publisher shot dead in Colombia
20.03.2010 22:50

A newspaper publisher known for his attacks on corruption and nepotism in Colombia has been shot dead, news reports said Saturday.

Clodomiro Castilla, 49, publisher of El Pulso del Tiempo newspaper was shot dead as he sat reading on his balcony in the city of Monteria, local newspaper Meridiano de Cordoba reported.

Castilla was known in the north-western region of the country for exposing the corruption scandals of local politicians, and had been arrested numerous times on drug and theft charges, dpa reported.

In the past year seven journalists have been murdered in Colombia, frequently in cases involving corrupt politicians, right-wing militias or left-wing rebels. Only rarely have murder cases been solved.

Castilla had received death threats in recent months, after having testified in court that officials from the conservative party of President Alvaro Uribe had contacts to right-wing death-squads.

The journalist had been given police protection, but it was withdrawn shortly before the shooting.

http://en.trend.az/regions/world/ocountries/1657578.html

~~~~~~~~~
Of course this has been done so many times already, but it's an unbelievably cold, underhanded, hvicious thing to do to someone.

Clearly they FEAR the truth getting out, as an entire population (minus the elites, of course) would be a terrifying force against them if the people became angry enough.

Thanks for posting this story first before any English sources ran it.

[Wilms]

12. And thank you for finding that article. n/t

[protocol rv]

13. Nepotism and Corruption are a bad thing

It proliferates so much. This is one reason why the Catholic Church developed the rule to forbid priests from marrying and having children, they had so much power in the dark ages, they would have used it to help their own families. Which some of them did anyway (for example the Borgias).

But how do we get rid of nepotism and corruption? It's all over.

In the USA, we see the Bush family achieve President and Governor for the sons of the President Bush the First. And the other brother is a crook who achieved a high position in banking. And do you think Hillary Clinton really became Senator and Secretary of State because she's such a great politician?

In Brazil, it's really bad too. Members of the Brazilian Congress hire their relatives all the time.

In Venezuela, we see the president's brother, Asdrúbal Chavez achieve a high post in PDVSA, another brother, Adán Chávez was Minister of Education and is Governor of Barinas State. Another brother, Argenis Chavez is the Secretary of State of Barinas State.

It just goes on and on and on, in every country. And it's due to human nature. The only way to avoid it would be to have robots running government. Or maybe we could pass a law declaring that relatives of politicians can't come within 100 meters of a government office.

[rabs]

14. In Colombia journalists are gunned down ...

... but in La Paz, Bolivia (in a story you probably will not see in the English-language media) journalists will get free medical care, including surgery if needed.

Who provides the medical care at no cost? None other than Cuban doctors working in that country. The care extends to the journalists' families too. As in other countries, journalists' salaries in Bolivia are often miserly.

The union representing media workers in La Paz has signed a contract with the Cuban Embassy to that effect, according to an announcement today (Saturday).

------------------------------

1-L ABI: BOLIVIA-SINDICATOS

Periodistas de La Paz firman acuerdo con Embajada Cubana para atención médica de sus afiliados


La Paz, 20 mar (ABI).- La Federación de Trabajadores de la Prensa de La Paz (FTPLP) informó el sábado de un acuerdo importante firmado con la Embajada de Cuba en Bolivia para la atención médica de sus afiliados en distintas especialidades.

El secretario Ejecutivo de la FTPLP, Boris Quisberth, explicó que el convenio permitirá que los periodistas paceños y sus familiares reciban atención médica en las entidades de salud dependientes de la Embajada cubana.

Este acuerdo permitirá que compañeros de bajos recursos económicos que necesiten atención médica, prioritariamente intervenciones quirúrgicas en distintos campos, puedan ser atendidos de manera gratuita?, afirmó el dirigente.

Por su parte, la Ministra Consejera para Prensa, Cultura e Información de la Embajada Cubana, Mercedes de Armas García, expresó la satisfacción por esa cooperación y aseguró que "las puertas de la Embajada nunca están cerradas" para los periodistas.

Quisberth invitó a los afiliados a la FTPLP, que requieran de atención médica especializada, a presentar sus solicitudes para su consideración correspondiente.
rsl ABI

[Judi Lynn]

15. Colombian journalist gunned down

Colombian journalist gunned down
1:34 PM Sunday Mar 21, 2010

STAFF WRITER 7:31 HRS IST

Bogota, Mar 21 (AP) The killing of a veteran radio reporter by a motorcycle gunman in a northwestern state capital has reignited concerns about the safety of journalists in Colombia.

Clodomiro Castilla, a reporter and announcer at La Voz de Monteria radio, was gunned down on his front porch Friday night,said Jaime Cuervo, a judicial investigator in Cordoba state.

Castilla, a 50-year-old father of four, had reported on far-right drug-funded militias known as paramilitaries and their friendly ties to the area's business elite. Cordoba has long been a paramilitary stronghold.

Police had no immediate suspects in the killing and offered a USD 26,000 reward for leads. Castilla's employer said he had received threats and was assigned bodyguards for two years until last year.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/574587_Colombian-journalist-slain-in-militia-stronghold