A new report on attacks on the press in Colombia delivered by the Foundation for Press Freedom, Flip, revealed a worrying balance for journalists in the country. According to the figures collected by the organization, throughout the year 2023, 58 threats against these professionals have been documented.
The figures go from January 1 to May 31, 2023, which for the Flip means that a journalist is threatened every two days; which is a clear problem for the safety of those who practice this profession in the national territory.
The cases registered by the organization occurred in 22 departments of the country, which means that in 70% of the national territory at least one journalist has been threatened. The places with the greatest attacks and intimidation have been Bogotá and the municipalities of Arauca, Norte de Santander, Tolima, Atlántico and Nariño.
The capital of the country is the city in which the most attacks on the press have been registered, in the first five months of the year six cases were reported. This could be due to the fact that Bogotá is the site of concentration of large digital, television, radio, community, independent and other media.
In the case of journalists who have been intimidated in Bogotá, threats are usually made by unknown actors through social networks; which makes a big difference with colleagues who practice in the country’s rural territory, where the intimidation comes from illegal armed actors.
Throughout 2023, the Flip has registered that 26 of the 58 attacks have been carried out by criminal gangs, dissidents and guerrillas; during the same period, but in 2022, 21 were documented. Most of these intimidations occur in the departments of Arauca and Norte de Santander.
Regarding the sources that cover journalists who are victims of intimidation, the organization was able to establish that in the case of Bogotá, communicators who address issues of public administration, politics, and security are more exposed. While in Arauca and Norte de Santander they are those who report on armed conflict, drug trafficking and security issues.
In other areas of the country where cases have also been reported, such as the departments of Tolima and Atlántico, the presence of illegal groups that respond to armed organizations such as the Clan del Golfo. On these sites, the most vulnerable journalists are those who talk about legal issues and public order, such as thefts and homicides.
The modality that these violent actors usually use is to approach journalists in physical spaces, they also intimidate them with pamphlets in their residences and places of work or with telephone calls. So far in 2023, 20 threats have been registered in virtual environments such as social networks in which messages are accompanied by emoticons (skulls, coffins, knives and crosses), threats to family members or photographs of them in a public place.
To represent the impact of the threats, the Flip addressed two cases of attack by the press. The first in Bogotá against the journalist Daniel Samper Ospina and the second in El Plato, Tolima, against the communicator Cristian Cabrales.
In the case of Daniel Samper, the organization pointed out that the threats occur mainly online through his social networks and email, where he receives insulting messages on a daily basis. They placed special emphasis on two threats that the journalist received on May 5 and 24 on his Instagram and emails.
“In one of the messages they threaten to hit him for ‘slandering Petro with such false arguments’; and, in the other message, they tell him that they expect ‘his early death from him’ and that ‘he should be imprisoned like the uribeasts,’ ”Flip pointed out.
In the case of Cristian Cabrales, the intimidation has been in person. The organization explained that one day the journalist “was approached by a person on a motorcycle, who showed him a weapon while telling him that it was better for him to be silent.” In addition, on May 2 he received a call in which he was told that to avoid problems he should delete a publication that he made about those most wanted by the Police; Cristian removed the content for fear of the consequences.
Given this, the Flip pointed out in its report that intimidation of the press not only causes censorship, silence or displacement, sensitive issues in a democratic society, but also has “profound psychological consequences for journalists.”
“In view of this year’s elections, the State must focus on preventing and punishing violence against the press and that political leaders, candidates, officials and public servants make speeches in which they support the work of the press,” the organization recommended in its statement. with Infobae