Three More Press Freedom Violations During the Demonstrations of September 21

• Between the 9th and the 21st of September 2020, FLIP recorded 33 press freedom violations.
  
  
• FLIP calls on the National Police to train its members to guarantee freedom of the press.
  
  
• We request the National Government to urgently take the necessary measures to comply with the ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice, and to direct the actions of the Law Enforcement Personnel.
  
  

The Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) rejects the continuing attacks on journalists and the media by demonstrators and members of the Law Enforcement Personnel during the coverage of social mobilizations. 

Between the 9th and the 21st of September of 2020, FLIP has recorded 33 press freedom violations that have affected 35 journalists amid coverage of social demonstrations. The most frequent attacks have been physical assaults with 16 cases, followed by obstructions to journalistic work with five cases, illegal detentions with four cases and three other threatening situations during the coverage.

On September 21, during the days of social mobilization that occurred in the main cities of the country, three more cases of attacks on the press were carried out. In the downtown of Bogotá, on Jiménez Avenue with Carrera Séptima, serious acts of violence took place. One of those persons affected was freelance photographer Andrés Torres, who was attacked by members of ESMAD (riot police) while recording the arrest of a person by seven police officers. According to the reporter, when he was taking the pictures, uniformed men shot him twice: One of the projectiles left a wound on one of his fingers and totally damaged his camera. Torres assures that the other shot was with a rubber bullet that hit him in one of his legs and left him with a hematoma. When the attack occurred, the reporter was fully identified as press on his helmet and bracelet he carried. 

At that same point in the city, journalists Fabián Yáñez and César Posada, duly identified as reporters for Semana Magazine, were attacked by Law Enforcement Personnel when they were covering the demonstrations. According to Yáñez, ESMAD agents charged with gasses and stun bombs to a point where only journalists were located. Yáñez and Posada ran to the Colombian Central Bank building (Banco de la República) to guard themselves, but ESMAD agents chased them to that point and, from a short distance, shot them twice with stun bombs. 

The third event took place in the city of Bucaramanga. During the demonstrations taking place in Luis Carlos Galán Square, the correspondents of RCN Televisión and the journalistic team of Televisión Regional de Oriente channel were attacked by demonstrators, who prevented the recording and expelled the reporters from the site. The two press teams left the square guarded by members of Law Enforcement Personnel.  

In addition, of the recent events affecting the development of journalistic work, 76% are attributed to members of the National Police, and the remaining 24% to individuals.

FLIP expresses its concern that these press freedom violations still fall within the framework of systematic practices denounced by multiple civil organizations in the face of the November 2019 protests. Some of these are: The arbitrary resolution of peaceful protests, the anti-regulatory use of potentially lethal weapons, the disproportionate use of irritating chemical agents in the dissolution of protests, the arbitrary detention of people in the context of protests by the National Police, and attacks on journalists covering the demonstrations. 

In a judgment of September 22, 2020, the Supreme Court of Justice recognized the existence of a systematic violation of the rights to protest, freedom of speech and freedom of the press by law enforcement officers, in the excessive and disproportionate use of force, when these, in defense of law and order, behave excessively and without control. 

In this regard, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization- UNESCO - reiterated that “law enforcement personnel has a duty to ensure the safety of journalists covering protests, and to guarantee the public's right to seek and receive information on these mass mobilizations”. Therefore, it stressed the need for security forces to receive training in freedom of speech, so that they can “better understand the role and mission of journalists in democratic societies”. 

FLIP notes with concern the stigmatizing reactions of some political leaders, particularly those expressed by Gustavo Petro as opposition leader , to the various views of the press regarding the unprecedented decision of the Supreme Court of Justice. We reiterate that political leaders are also guarantors of the freedom of expression of those who do not agree with their approaches. They should therefore refrain from making stigmatizing statements against those who exercise the right of opinion and that of press, in particular, because this conduct eliminates the guarantees that all points of view are expressed and that a plural and diverse debate is forged.

Thus, FLIP calls on the National government to urgently take the necessary measures to comply with the Supreme Court's ruling and to channel the action of Law Enforcement Personnel. 

In addition, FLIP calls on the National Police, which must guarantee journalistic work in these scenarios, to initiate a disciplinary investigation into these events, in order to punish the military personnel responsible for these proceedings against press freedom. Likewise, for it to train its members to guarantee this right and to re-enforce the presence of the press as a guarantee of transparency of its operations and not as an obstacle. 

FLIP also calls on demonstrators to also ensure the free development of journalistic work. It is paradoxical that the right to express oneself publicly affects the press covering on the demands of different social groups

Finally, political parties and citizens' movements are called upon to encourage public debate in fulfillment of their constitutional role. The rule of law is strengthened by a free press, and weakened when politicians turn to denigrating speeches seeking to praise journalism that they dislike.