Truth Remains Captive: The Court Grants Release to Another Individual Involved in the Kidnapping of El Comercio’s Newspaper Press Team

Last Tuesday, August 4, the First Municipal Criminal Court of Tumaco granted the release of Gustavo Angulo Arboleda, alias Cherry, on the expiration of terms. Angulo Arboleda was under preventive detention on the trial that is advanced for the crimes of aggravated extortion kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a crime, in the case of the kidnapping and murder of Javier Ortega, Paúl Rivas and Efraín Segarra, a press team of El Comercio newspaper. The crimes occurred in March and April 2018 on the border between Colombia and Ecuador. 

Javier, Paúl and Efraín were engaged in journalistic work on the complex situation of law and order in the border area, characterized by the absence of institutions from both States. Two years later, the border continues to be a silenced area for journalism and the clarification of the crime against El Comercio’s press team seems far away. 

In the case of Angulo Arboleda, the administration of justice has been slow, with excessive delays in scheduling hearings. This shows that, despite the seriousness of the criminal acts, overcoming the state of impunity is not one of the priorities of the Colombian State. (You can review a timeline with the dates of the judiciary proceeding against Angulo Arboleda at the end of this press release.)

It is relevant to remember that Gustavo Alonso Ospina Hernández, alias Barbas , was also released, in June of this year; the one who has not appeared himself to the court hearings that continue to advance against him. 

In 2018, the State announced to the families and to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) that every effort would be made to bring those responsible to justice, and that commitment would seem to have been dropped over time. 

For Ricardo Rivas, brother of Paúl Rivas, access to justice has been outrageous and out wearing: “It is no less than outrageous to know and be aware that justice is not being delivered and does not exist in this case in Colombia. At the meetings we had with the IACHR in Washington, the State's commitment was that: To follow up, to speed up on this case that has been emblematic at the regional level. Unfortunately, we have not seen the results.” 

For Fundamedios, FLIP and the victims' families, these decisions are a clear sign of the risk of impunity that this case is taking. We therefore call on the States of Colombia and Ecuador to reaffirm their commitment to the fight against impunity in this case and, to adopt the recommendations suggested by the IACHR Special Monitoring Team. 

In this regard, the Colombian State, must adopt guidelines to prioritize the prosecution of justice in this case through the Prosecutor's Office of the Nation and the Superior Council of the Judiciary, in accordance with international standards for the investigation, trial and punishment of serious human rights violations.

“As victims, it also affects us. It makes us think that unfortunately it is a hard path on which we must continue to work and fight until we can achieve the objective of reaching said justice, truth and equity in this case”, Ricardo Rivas.