In a climate of increasing hostility to freedom of expression in Colombia, five journalists received death threats from a paramilitary group, which warned that the time had arrived to “exterminate and annihilate all those people and organizations that pose as human rights defenders,” La Vanguardia and El País Vallenato report.
The threats were sent via email about “military targets,” which include the president of the Colombian Federation of Journalists (Fecolper), Eduardo Márquez, and journalists Claudia Julieta Duque, Daniel Coronell, Marcos Perales Mendoza, and Hollman Morris, as well as a dozen other human rights groups, the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) reports.
“We will locate them in their offices, in the places they live…We have them in our sights and from now on they can be left for dead,” said the message, signed by the Black Eagles paramilitary group, El Universal explains.
Journalism and human rights groups have called on the authorities to guarantee the press workers’ safety and investigate the threats.
The threats add to the dramatic spike in attacks on the media last year, and a pamphlet last month by a different paramilitary group that threatens three other journalists.
Other Related Headlines:
» Reporters without Borders (Five journalists declared “military objectives” in “Black Eagles” message)
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.
