Salud Hernandez has not been seen for 48 hours

According to FLIP’s sources, on Friday, May 20, as the journalist interviewed farming leaders in the region, a group of unknown persons approached her and took her equipment. Hernandez stayed in the region with the intent of getting her equipment back.

According to locals in the region, on Saturday, May 21, unknown persons took Hernandez on a motorcycle and drove off on the road that connects El Tarra municipality with Hacarí. Since that moment, and 30 hours later, there’s been no contact with the journalist.

Several media outlets reported on Sunday that the Army confirmed Hernandez’s disappearance was a kidnapping by the ELN.  However, statements by the president and the minister of defense simply state that efforts are being made to find her, and do not attribute responsibility for her disappearance nor clarify exactly what happened. The Ministry of Defense hinted that the journalist could be in the Filogringo neighborhood of El Tarra and confirmed that the army, police and army rangers.

For FLIP, these acts are in and of themselves an attack on freedom of the press which seriously affects public debate and the coverage of topics related to the armed conflict. FLIP fears that these acts are motivated by Salud Hernandez’s critical, public stances on national topics.

According to the Interamerican Commission for Human Rights “the killing, kindapping, intimidation or threats affect social communicators, much like how destroying material violates the fundamental rights of people and severely cuts down on freedom of expression.”

We want all interested parties, including the media, to rigorously check the information being published. In these cases, publishing unverified information increases the journalist’s risk.

Finally, FLIP exhorts all actors in the armed conflict that have a presence in the Catatumbo region to release a public statement, and demands that they guarantee the well-being and life of journalist Salud  Hernández.

Update:

On Monday, May 23 FLIP found out that Roberto Pombo, director of El Tiempo, knew that Salud Hernandez was going to be in El Tarra and unreachable but that she would be back on the grid on Monday.