Journalists in Colombia Victims of Human Rights Violations

Nearly half (44 per cent) of Colombian journalists have been victims of human rights violations, most of them committed by illegal armed groups, said the Office of the Ombudsman of Colombia.

‘Illegal armed groups, criminal organizations (...) are the main perpetrators of abuses or those that generate the most risks for journalists in Colombia,’ said Julio Solano, responsible for freedom of expression, at the presentation of a report on Tuesday.

 

This is the first time that the organization has carried out a study of this kind in one of the most dangerous countries for journalists due to an armed conflict that has lasted six decades.

According to the report, 28 per cent of the violations were committed by guerrilla groups such as the National Liberation Army (ELN), dissident factions of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and paramilitary groups.

Attacks committed by the police and other state bodies account for 24 per cent of cases, while 12 per cent involve acts perpetrated by political leaders ‘and, in some cases, public officials’, Solano added.

The non-governmental organization (NGO) Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Colombia ‘among the most dangerous countries on the continent for journalists’, behind Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Honduras.

Of all the offences documented by the Colombian ombudsman, 37% correspond to violations of freedom of expression and information and 36% of the journalists interviewed said they had been the target of physical attacks or death threats.

Many journalists have been targeted by the various armed groups operating in Colombia, a country immersed in an armed conflict that has claimed 9.5 million victims, including the dead, disappeared, displaced and kidnapped.

The Colombian Historical Memory Centre has indicated that 152 journalists have been killed since 1977 in the exercise of their profession. In half of the cases, the perpetrators have gone unpunished.