A Colombian judge ordered the arrest of the Central Command (Coce) of the guerrilla group known as the National Liberation Army (ELN for its acronym in Spanish) for the kidnappings of six journalists and a driver this past May, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
In a Sept. 14 judgment, the Council of the State of Colombia – the highest court that handles legal processes involving the state – found the Nation responsible for the murder of journalist and humorist Jaime Garzón Forero, which occurred on Aug. 13, 1999.
September 10 marks one year since the murder of Colombian journalist Flor Alba Núñez in the city of Pitalito, in the department of Huila. In that time, her family, colleagues and organizations defending freedom of the press have fought to investigate the crime and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.
In the course of reporting on Colombia’s violent and complicated internal conflict, journalist Hollman Morris was accused of being an “accomplice to terror” and endured threats and harassment.
Two Colombian reporters who were kidnapped by the National Liberation Army (ELN) in May have received threatening text messages supposedly signed by the ELN, according to a recent report from the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP).
The decision of a judge in Barranquilla, Colombia to order a three-day detention for the director of newspaper El Heraldo, Marco Schwartz, and the imposition of a fine for alleged contempt of an order for rectification has generated controversy in the country.
The security situation for the Colombian press seems to be getting worse in the midst of peace negotiations between the government and rebel groups in the country.
The Spanish journalist Salud Hernández-Mora disappeared on Saturday May 21 at noon in the municipality of El Tarra, while investigating the eradication of illegal crops in the region of Catatumbo in the Colombian department of Norte de Santander, according to Reuters.
Jineth Bedoya Lima, the Colombian journalist who was kidnapped, tortured and subjected to sexual violence on May 25, 2000 by a paramilitary group in retaliation for her work as a journalist, formally returned the administrative reparations that the Colombian State awarded her as a victim of the armed conflict, according to newspaper El Espectador.
Four former officials of the now defunct Department of Administrative Security (DAS) in Colombia were called for questioning by the Attorney General’s Office as part of its investigation of the threats and psychological torture of journalist Claudia Julieta Duque, according to newspaper El Espectador. [Read a brief explanation of the scandal below]
Peruvian, Mexican and Colombian journalists received the Ortega y Gasset Journalism Awards from Spanish newspaper El País in Madrid on May 5.
Matías Avelino Castro of the Dominican Republic, alleged mastermind behind the murder of Dominican journalist José Agustín Silvestre in 2011, was arrested on April 3 in Bogotá, Colombia, reported Colonel Juan Carlos Gómez, chief of Interpol Colombia, according to AFP.