A pamphlet signed by a shadowy group known only as “Los Doce del Patíbulo” has threatened five journalists in the city of Cartago, Colombia with death, according to local newspaper El Diario.

The pamphlet, first circulated on 21 February, says that individuals who are opposed to current Cartago mayor Germán González Osorio, and who have “electoral interests,” will be designated as “military targets.” It lists a number of such “targets,” among whom are five journalists: Luis Fernando Gil and Hernando Posada Echeverri of local TV channel CNC; Raúl Parra, of La Hoja de Parra; Fernando Posso, a local columnist; and Héctor Fabio García,  who works with broadcaster Cartago Estéreo.

When local journalists’ group Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) contacted the mayor, they were informed that the mayor’s office had condemned the attacks, and called on those “who are disgruntled to seek legal avenues of reparation.”

This is the fourth such pamphlet to be circulated in Cartago since March 2009, according to daily newspaper El Diario. Cartago police chief Colonel Elías Herrera, told FLIP he was aware of the pamphlet and appropriate action would be taken.

Very little is known about the group purportedly behind the pamphlet.  According to El Diario, the authorities claim that the group does not exist, and extensive research has not led to the discovery of those responsible. Other sources claim that the group is linked to drug trafficking, which is rife in the area.

IPI Director David Dadge said: “Rather than hiding in the shadows, this organisation – if it exists at all – should be participating in democracy and allowing journalists to investigate those who claim to belong to this group. The fact that this group has made death threats to journalists shows that it has no interest in democracy, but those in Colombia who do believe in democracy should forcefully condemn this assault on freedom on the press.”

A FLIP report released in February said that 74 threats were made against journalists in Colombia in 2009.

An IPI statement accompanying the recent release of the organisation’s World Press Freedom Review 2009 noted that according to IPI’s Death Watch 58 journalists lost their lives in Colombia over the last decade as a result of their profession, making it the third most deadly country for journalists in the last 10 years, surpassed only by the Philippines and Iraq.