Colombia must protect rights of journalists, UN expert says

Against the backdrop of a 40-year conflict in Colombia, the country’s new anti-terrorism measures and the growing concentration of media ownership are hampering the work of journalists, a United Nations human rights expert said today.

“All sides of the conflict have been perpetrating, sometimes in different forms and extent, grave human rights violations,” said the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Ambeyi Ligabo, who just returned from the country. “Sadly, the existence and the relentless activities of guerrilla and paramilitary groups have created fear and intimidations in the lives of ordinary citizens, substantially hampering their freedom of expression.”

This right is being limited because of drug trafficking, the ongoing civil conflict, and the concentration of media ownership in the hands of a few, he said. The “long and painful delay in the investigation of crimes coupled with many unsolved cases of murder of journalists, trade unionists and teachers that may never successfully be concluded” have also fostered a culture of impunity, creating a climate of intimidation and fear, he added.

The expert also cited “an obscured linkage between purveyors of corruption, various armed groups and some sections of the military-law enforcement agencies.”

Mr. Ligabo urged the Government to consider the fight against impunity as a major priority. “Perpetrators of human rights violations should be brought to justice regardless of their political affiliation or status in society,” he stressed. He also called on the authorities to review their protection programmes and reinforce protection for journalists, trade unionists, teachers and human rights defenders.

He also voiced concern about an anti-terrorist decree adopted at the end of last year. “Through this new decree, emergency measures like body searches, telephone tapping and control of private correspondence would be authorized without a judicial mandate,” he said, adding, “It goes without saying that such measures will harshly affect freedom of opinion and expression.”

Indigenous peoples, the Afro-Colombian minority and other ethnic groups still suffer discrimination, intolerance and social exclusion, he noted, calling on the Government to reiterate its firm commitment to human rights.