H.E. Andres Pastrana Arango
President
Office of the President
Santa Fe de Bogota
Colombia
Vienna, 6 July 2000
Your Excellency,
The International Press Institute, the global network of editors and journalists, strongly condemns the killing of television journalist Marisol Rebelo.
Rebelo, 25, had been working for a local TV news programme sponsored by an environmental agency known as the Regional Autonomous Corporation. IPI is informed that she was killed on 5 July when an unidentified gunman fired three bullets into her stomach on the doorstep of her home in the port of Tumaco on the Pacific coast. After the attack, the perpetrator escaped on a motorcycle. At present, no one has claimed responsibility for the murder.
IPI urges Your Excellency to ensure that there is a thorough investigation into Rebelo’s murder and that those responsible for her slaying are brought swiftly to justice. Rebelo’s murder is deeply disturbing in light of the fact that seven journalists were killed last year in Colombia and so far this year four more murders have been brought to our attention. Therefore, we urge Your Excellency to take all possible steps to prevent the murder of journalists which is being committed with alarming impunity in Colombia.
We thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director