62nd
General Assembly
Mexico City, Mexico
September 29 to October 3, 2006
Camino Real Hotel
Reports and Resolutions
|
COLOMBIA
II
Resolution of the Midyear Meeting
Quito, Ecuador
October 17 - 20, 2006
WHEREAS
executives from the newspapers Vanguardia Liberal, Hoy Diario del Magdalena,
La Tarde de Barrancabermeja, and El Universal have reported being threatened
by members of government agencies, public officials, and private citizens
WHEREAS
thirty journalists were threatened in Colombia and five of them forced to leave
they area where they work, which has had a harmful effect on journalism and
the news
WHEREAS
a judge has dismissed the charges against a suspect in the threats against journalist
Daniel Coronel, based on the weakness of the evidence found in the investigation
by the Colombian Office of the Attorney General
WHEREAS
Principle 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states: “Freedom of expression
and of the press are severely limited by murder, terrorism, kidnapping, pressure,
intimidation, the unjust imprisonment of journalists, the destruction of facilities,
violence of any kind and impunity for perpetrators. Such acts must be investigated
promptly and punished harshly”
THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE
IAPA RESOLVES
to urge the Office of the
Attorney General to act as quickly as possible to investigate and punish those
responsible for the threats against executives of Vanguardia Liberal, La Tarde
de Barrancabermeja, Hoy Diario Del Magdalena, and El Universal, as well as against
journalists working outside Bogotá
to ask the government and
its civilian and military authorities to ensure the safety of journalists outside
Bogotá and implement security measures to ensure the free practice of
journalism
to reiterate the need for
the Office of the Attorney General to conduct investigations that yield solid
evidence, which in turn calls for enhancing its human and technical resources
to allow judges to delegate responsibilities accordingly.
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