THE INTER American Press Association (IAPA) condemns and rejects death threats reported last week against three journalists from different media outlets in Colombia, who received funeral wreaths and condolence letters. IAPA is encouraging officials to continue investigating until those responsible are found.
The threatened journalists, Daniel Coronel, director of Noticias Uno and Hollman Morris, producer of the programme Contravia, both broadcast on Canal Uno; as well as Carlos Lozano, editor of the Communist weekly, Voz, expressed their concern while noting that they did not know who sent the funeral wreaths and condolence letters received at their homes and offices.
ARMED CONFLICT
The three journalists, who previously had received death threats, are critical of the present Government and have issued opinions on different players in the armed conflict in Colombia.
The chairman of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Gonzalo Marroquin, expressed his "solidarity with the journalists and urged officials to comply with their announcement to provide security and investigate the threats."
Marroquin, editor of the Guatemalan daily, Prensa Libre, was referring to statements made by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez, who issued instructions to step up security for journalists and push forward in the investigations leading to capturing those responsible.
