Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

attacks on the press in 2009americas: cubajournalists to any side in Colombia’s armed conflict. CPJ research has shown thatsuch public assertions have endangered journalists. The government has often resortedto such politicized accusations, the New York-based group Human RightsFirst said at a March hearing of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. Houseof Representatives. Colombian prosecutors, the group said, have brought dozensof unfounded and “specious” criminal investigations against Colombians, includingjournalists and human rights activists.Journalists working in the provinces faced harassment from all sides of Colombia’sfive-decade-long civil conflict. In February, the four hostages released byFARC to the humanitarian mission said the guerrillas had declared local journalists“military targets.” In March, two alleged members of the paramilitary groupUnited Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) shot Gustavo Adolfo ValenciaAyala inside his home in the eastern city of Popayán. Valencia, director of nationalradio station Todelar, suffered a leg wound. In April, six unidentified assailantsheld Gustavo Álvarez Gardeazábal, host of the political program “La Luciérnaga”on national Caracol Radio, at gunpoint in his home in the western city of Tuluá.The attackers ransacked the journalist’s house but did not harm him. A securitycamera recorded the assailants as they fled, and investigators identified the truckthey were driving as a military vehicle. The army denied involvement, and Uribeoffered 20 million pesos (US$10,000) for information on the case.One journalist was killed in connection to his work. José Everardo Aguilar,72, a correspondent for Radio Súper in the southern city of Patía and host of anews program on the community radio station Bolívar Estéreo, was gunned downinside his home in April. Colleagues told CPJ that Aguilar had decried links betweenlocal politicians and paramilitaries. One man was charged in the slaying,which the Colombian National Police said was in reprisal for Aguilar’s reporting,but a local court acquitted the defendant in November.Two journalists were killed in unclear circumstances. The bullet-ridden bodyof Diego de Jesús Rojas Velásquez, a reporter and cameraman for Supía TV, wasfound in September on a highway in the central city of Supía. In December, HároldHumberto Rivas Quevedo, host of a political commentary show on CNC Bugavisión,was shot shortly after leaving the television station’s studios in the westerncity of Buga. CPJ was examining whether the killings were work-related.Authorities reported progress in an eight-year-old murder case. Two formerparamilitary fighters confessed under the Law of Justice and Peace to the 2001killing of Flavio Iván Bedoya, a regional correspondent for the Bogotá-basedCommunist Party daily Voz. Bedoya, shot as he stepped off a bus in the southwesternport city of Tumaco, had published critical reports on ties between localsecurity forces and paramilitary groups in Nariño province. According to an Aprilreport by the Bogotá-based press freedom group Fundación para la Libertad dePrensa, paramilitary fighters have confessed under the law to participation inseven other journalist murders.In a landmark case in the fight against impunity, a court in northern Santanderprovince convicted three former public officials on charges of plotting the2003 murder of radio commentator José Emeterio Rivas. The prosecution’s keywitness was demobilized paramilitary fighter Pablo Emilio Quintero Dodino,who confessed to the shooting during a Law of Justice and Peace hearing. FormerBarrancabermeja Mayor Julio César Ardila Torres was sentenced to 28 yearsin prison, while former public works officials Abelardo Rueda Tobón and FabioPajón Lizcano each received sentences of 26 years and eight months. Rivas, 44, acommentator for the local Radio Calor Estéreo, was killed in retaliation for hisreports on official corruption and links between Ardila’s administration and paramilitarygroups, the Attorney General’s office said.CUBAt o p developments»»Vibrant blogging culture emergesdespite severe Internet restrictions.»»Jailed journalists suffer amid inhumaneconditions.2 2key statisticReporters and editors in jail as ofDecember 1, 2009.Cuba was hit hard by the global economic crisis and enduredan upheaval in its highest offices, but state-controlled news media deliveredsuperficial and skewed coverage. Human rights conditions, including press freedom,remained at a standstill:Independent journalistsfaced ongoing harassment,and more than 20 reportersand editors remained in jail.But offering a flicker of hopefor freedom of expression onthe island, a growing communityof independent bloggersmaneuvered around legal,economic, and technologicallimitations to describe everydayexperiences and express opinions that challenged the regime’s perspective.Cuba was one of the 10 Worst Countries to Be a Blogger, according to an Aprilanalysis by CPJ. But because the government so harshly represses other media, theInternet has become the one means by which Cubans are able to exercise free expression.The government estimates Internet penetration at 13 percent, althoughindependent estimates are much lower.Regardless, the Internet in Cuba is extremely slow and expensive, and legal7 67 7