Serious Press Freedom Violations by the National Army in 2020

In 2020, the National Army has been reiterating in attacks and assaults against the press: Yesterday, Abelardo Liz, an indigenous communicator of Cauca, was murdered by bullets fired from where soldiers of the National Army were located. Days ago, in another area of the country, a reporter lost three fingers after a physical assault. Illegal Arrests and Espionage and Surveillance Actions Have Been Widely Denounced, and Threats Against Journalists Continue. 

Despite constant allegations, to date, FLIP is not aware of disciplinary sanctions or convictions for any of these events. 

 

Journalism is Mourning

Yesterday, August 13, FLIP denounced the murder of Abelardo Liz, a journalist of Nación Nasa radio station, who died while being transferred to Cali for medical care. The reporter received several firearm impacts while covering the ‘liberation of mother earth’ process carried out by the indigenous peoples in El Barranco village of the municipality of Corinto, in the north of Cauca. Reporters who are part of the Fabric of Communications for Truth and Life of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of North Cauca (ACIN in Spanish), who were also covering the public demonstration, claim that the shots came from the sector in which the members of the National Army were located.

This Murder is the Most Serious Violation of Press Freedom that FLIP has Recorded in 2020. However, the Foundation has documented other worrying cases during this year in which members of the National Army would also be involved. 

Physical Assault in Guaviare

In similar circumstances in which Liz was murdered, communicators of Voces del Guayabero collective, who work in the south of Meta department and the north of Guaviare, have received different attacks during the development of their reporting that have put their life and integrity at risk. The first of these occurred on June 4, when Fernando Osorio lost three fingers of his right hand after being shot by the National Army. 

In addition to this disproportionate attack, Osorio and three of his colleagues from Voces del Guayabero have denounced threats to their lives and irregular arrests by military personnel, who constantly accuse communicators as guerrilla members. Press Freedom Violations Against Reporters of this Media Have Occurred during the Coverage of Forced Eradication Operations in Vista Hermosa, Meta department, where, according to journalists, about 80 farmer communities are at risk from military actions by the Law Enforcement Personnel. 

Surveillance and Profiling

Nonetheless, attacks against the press involving members of the National Army are not limited to direct attacks during the coverage of military operations. This alert was issued after Semana Magazine published its investigation named as Secret Folders, in which it denounces the surveillance and profiling actions by the Colombian Army over more than 130 people, including human rights defenders, domestic and international journalists, politicians, union leaders, and other members of the armed forces. On June 11, following a report by the Attorney General’s Office of the Nation, FLIP confirmed that the number of journalists surveilled by the National Army was 52. 

No One is Responsible

Despite requests for investigation by FLIP, to date the National Army has not clarified the events denounced, nor reported on sanctions or convictions against officials responsible for these serious press freedom violations. On the contrary, through its press releases, such as the one published yesterday, August the 13th, the institution continues to deny that civil society is being affected by its actions; and labels out journalists and community members of being insurgents or guerrillas to justify their disproportionate actions. 

These situations are particularly serious, given that the Colombian State has failed to fulfill its responsibility for punishment and prevention as ordered by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 2013 after the attacks on journalist Gonzalo “Richard” Vélez. 

On the 5th of October of that year, the international body sentenced the State for the attacks and subsequent threats by Army members to the reporter in 1996 and forced him into exile. Vélez was recording human rights violations during the coca field marches in Caquetá department. In the judgment, the international body determined that, as a guarantee of non-repetition, the Colombian State should “include a specific module on the protection of the right to freedom of thought and expression of the work that journalists and social communicators carry out in its programs of human rights education directed at the Armed Forces”.  

The systematicity with which the Army has acted to the detriment of the press is a serious indication that these are not isolated actions by individual military personnel, but that there is an instruction within the military forces to limit journalistic activities. For this reason, FLIP reiterates the need for the National Army to promptly investigate the events denounced in order to clarify the responsibility of the military. 

The Foundation also requests that, in response to the judgment of the Inter-American Court, precise instructions are given on the fulfillment of their duty as guarantors of press freedom in this type of scenarios where the presence of press teams is a guarantee of transparency around military operations.

FLIP extends its call to the Attorney General’s Office of the Nation to follow up on the investigations that are carried out inside the National Army. It also requests the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the complaints of journalists to advance the relevant actions to ensure respect for freedom of the press.