Killings of journalists in Colombia: impunity is 78%

Through the report “Journalism and elections: democracy in danger” by the Colombian Federation of Journalists (Fecolper), an assessment was revealed on the press freedom violations in Colombia in 2022, in which they presented four murders of journalists, two of them related to his work.

According to the document, Fecolper mentioned before this panorama: “it is discouraging and comes with challenges in terms of Human Rights (HRD); a growing labor crisis, such as, of course, the deplorable socio-economic situation faced with a career of survival and information work”.

The murder of Rafael Emiro Moreno, occurred on the night of Sunday, October 16, 2022. The journalist and social leader, director of the digital media Voces de Córdoba, was murdered by two hitmen in Montelíbano (Córdoba). Rafael had been characterized by journalistic investigations on issues of political corruption and drug trafficking.

As the case of Wilmer Alfredo Cardona, on November 27, 2022, two subjects ended the life of the journalist in La Unión (Nariño), on the border with Ecuador, by intercepting him while he was traveling on a motorcycle. He was director of the local communication channel Unión TV, recognized for its work of information on the administration and insecurity in the municipality.

On the other hand, the report highlights the attempt to annihilation in which it is considered one of the worst against freedom of the press as a whole and an act of intimidation against the exercise of the right to information. With the above, the case of the journalist Julien Martinez when on February 22, 2022, he denounced via his Twitter account: “I have just suffered an emergency attack in Bogotá. My protection system must have activated weapons.”

For which the Federation explained that the fact that a journalist survives an attack does not take away from the fact that he has been turned into a target of violence, therefore it has a repercussion similar to that of a murder.

Regarding the threats, the figure was known that a journalist was victimized almost every day in 2022. This number increased in election time and by illegal armed groups during an armed strike by the criminal organization known as Gulf Clan.

The areas with the highest number of threats against the press were: Bogotá, as in the departments of Antioquia, Arauca, Valle del Cauca, Bolívar, Cauca, Magdalena, Cesar, Santander, Atlántico, Caldas, Córdoba, Norte de Santander, Narino, Cundinamarca and Tolima.

“In January 2022, at least 12 Arauca journalists reported being threatened and pressured by both ELN and FARC dissidents to publish information they had provided to them via WhatsApp about clashes between the two armed structures,” the report reads. .

It should be mentioned that in the marches for and against social reforms that took place in February of this year. Tuesday February 14, it was the turn of the mobilizations which support Gustavo Petro and Wednesday 15, those which went down in the street were the opponents.

According to Press Freedom Foundation (Flip) Five cases of attacks against the press were recorded during the conferences. Seven journalists in Cali and Medellín were physically assaulted and obstructed by demonstrators.

“The four cases we have documented in Medellín occurred today, February 15; while the one in Cali happened yesterday, February 14,” reads the statement shared by the foundation.

Finally, the document presented by Fecolper reveals that in Colombia from the 1970s until today there has been 165 murders of journalists for professional reasons. However, impunity for these crimes is 78.8% and only in one 18% cases, there was some type of conviction.

Thus, added to the unresolved cases of threats against journalists in the country, impunity can go as far as 98%.