H. E. Ernesto Samper Pizano
President of Colombia
Santafé de Bogotá

Vienna, 25 February 1998

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI) strongly condemns the killing of a Colombian journalist, Oscar García Calderon.

We are informed that García, a journalist with the Bogotá daily El Espectador, was murdered on 22 February 1998, shortly after leaving the paper’s offices at 19:30. He was killed by three gunshots, two to the head and one to the neck, in the residential neighbourhood of Ciudad Salitre.

García, who covered bullfights for El Espectador for more than two decades, was conducting investigations into the links between bullfighting and organised crime. Although the killers did take his wallet, they did not take his watch or gold ring, making robbery an unlikely motive and raising fears that he was murdered in retaliation for his work as a journalist.

IPI, the global network of editors and media executives from newspapers, magazines, broadcasting organisations and news agencies in over 100 countries, believes that García’s murder is particularly troubling in light of the fact that seven journalists were murdered in Colombia last year. We therefore urge Your Excellency to ensure an immediate and thorough investigation into his death, and to ensure that the Colombian government takes 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