The head of the IAPA delegation, Alberto Ibargüen, Publisher of The Miami Herald, stated after the meeting held yesterday at the Presidential Palace that lasted more than an hour that, “we cannot be more satisfied with the commitment of President Uribe to freedom of expression when he said that there will not be any laws that restrict freedom of the press during his administration.”
The IAPA delegation shared its concern with the Colombian leader over the murder of journalists and the impunity that surrounds most cases. The IAPA maintains that 114 Colombian journalists have been killed in the last 14 years, making the country the most dangerous to practice journalism in the Americas.
President Uribe received a large report from the IAPA which includes 30 investigated murder cases, nine of which were brought before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
Uribe said that the safety of journalists is part of his program called “democratic security” and even though he seemed skeptic over impunity in the past, he said that his government is completely dedicated to lowering crime rates and protecting specifically journalists, union workers, and teachers. He stressed that he will give instructions to his ambassador to the Organization of American States, Horacio Serpa, to follow up on the cases presented to the IACHR with the IAPA.
The President also stated that his political platform included teaching society since, “we require that citizens, through their complaints and cooperation, help police to protect journalists and justice to end impunity,” according to what he wrote in a memo sent to government officials during the meeting with the IAPA.
“Murder, threats against journalists and impunity, are shameful acts in our democracy,” Uribe said after listening to the report presented by Ibargüen and the rest of the international delegation comprised of Jack Fuller, President of Tribune Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois; Phil Bennett, International Editor of The Washington Post; Washington, D.C.; Gonzalo Marroquín, Publisher of Prensa Libre, Guatemala; Enrique Santos, Assistant Editor of El Tiempo, Colombia; and Ricardo Trotti, IAPA Press Freedom Coordinator.
At the end of the meeting, during which the IAPA also thanked the President for opposing a restrictive law against press freedom that called for the professionalization of journalism, Uribe signed the Declaration of Chapultepec, a document containing ten principles on freedom of expression and democracy that also commits the hemispheres’ leaders to guaranteeing freedom of the press.
Fuller, IAPA First Vice President, stated that, “our greatest concern is that there are enough safeguards for journalists to work in conflict zones,” when he mentioned the problems and lack of protection that journalists have in the interior of the country. This issue also was raised with the Interior Minister, Fernando Londoño, who told the IAPA that the government will not pass one single law that restricts the work of journalists.
The Press Law currently in Congress and other measures the IAPA consider harmful to freedom of the press where discussed in the meeting the delegation had with the President of the Senate, Luis Alfredo Ramos, and President of the House of Representatives, William Vélez. During the meeting, while the Congressmen seemed receptive, the IAPA argued that more than the journalists’ legal complaints, they need to understand that a law on professionalization violates fundamental principles of press freedom. The IAPA believes that the mandatory licensing of journalists limits the free exercise of the profession and “opens the door” for the implementation of government controls.
The delegation held a working meeting with the Attorney General, Luis Camilo Osorio, with whom besides reviewing concrete examples of advances and setbacks in some of the cases of murdered journalists, also discussed aspects of reforms at the Office of the Attorney General and cooperation that investigative journalism can offer to fight impunity.
Marroquín, Vice Chairman of the Impunity Committee, stated that “the IAPA will stay alert to make sure investigations on crimes against journalists move forward as a main part in the fight against impunity.”
The IAPA mission that took place in Colombia since Tuesday, also included meetings
with journalists from ANDIARIOS, as well as leaders of the Freedom of the Press
Foundation and Antonio Nariño Project, examining aspects of freedom of
the press and lines of cooperation for activities that benefit Colombian journalists,
particularly those in the interior of the country.
FUENTE: nota.texto7
