His Excellency Andrés Pastrana
President of Colombia
Santafé de Bogotá
Colombia

Vienna, 30 November 1999

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and media executives, strongly condemns the killing of two Colombian journalists.

According to our sources, two local television reporters, Luis Alberto Rincón and Alberto Sánchez, were shot dead on Sunday, 28 November 1999, while covering local elections in Santander, a northern province of Colombia.

Their bodies were found by the side of a road in Santander province, where left-wing Marxist rebels and right-wing paramilitary groups are fighting for control. One journalist had a single shot through the eye, the other 10 bullets put into his head. The authorities have been unable to identify the culprits.

Colombia has long proven to be the most dangerous country in Latin America to work in as a journalist. In 1998, ten journalists were killed – at least four of them for their investigative work. In 1999, five journalists have been killed because of their profession. Jaime Garzón, a beloved satirist known for his scathing parodies of politicians, was gunned down by unidentified assailants on 13 August as he was driving to the radio station, Radionet, where he had a morning show. On 16 September, Guzmán Quintero Torres, editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper, El Pilón, in the northern town of Valledupar, was killed by a masked assassin. Roberto Julio Torres, correspondent with the Cartagena-based radio station Emisora Fuentes de Cartagena, was found murdered along the highway outside of Berrugas, part of the Atlantic coastal municipality of San Onofre in Sucre Department, on 21 October.

At least 14 journalists were kidnapped and later released by leftist guerrillas or right-wing paramilitaries. Journalists are frequently detained for short periods, rarely exceeding 48 hours, to force them to broadcast messages for whichever side has abducted them.

IPI, the global network of editors and media executives, urges Your Excellency to ensure that there is a thorough investigation into the murder of the two journalists and that those responsible for their slaying are brought to justice. We further urge the Colombian government to take all possible steps to stop the killing of journalists and the alarming impunity that has accompanied these crimes.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director