The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has filed a case against Colombia in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for failing to provide justice and protection for journalist Luís Gonzalo “Richard” Vélez Restrepo, who was attacked by soldiers in 1996, while filming farmers protesting the destruction of coca crops. See reports in English by the IACHR and Colombia Reports.
After the attack, Vélez Restrepo and his family received death threats, which intensified after he tried to advance the investigation, IACHR says. After an attempted kidnapping in October 1997, Vélez Restrepo decided to go into exile.
He is no longer able to practice his profession, and the events remain unpunished after the government’s failure to do serious investigations to identify the attackers, IACHR says.
IACHR said the case is eligible to proceed for the alleged violation of several of the journalist's rights, including personal integrity, freedom of expression, judicial guarantees, and judicial protection.
See the IACHR’s news release and other information in the Spanish version of this post.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
