International organization of journalists calls for government to protect Colombian journalism

International organization of journalists calls for government to protect Colombian journalism
posted by Steven Cohen
Aug 23, 2013

A flood of reported cases of abuse against Colombian journalists in the last two days of national protests led an international journalist watchdog group to pen an open letter to President Juan Manuel Santos Friday, making a “strong call” for increased protections for reporters operating in Colombia.

Reporters Without Borders, a self-described “international organization for the defense of the freedom of information”, says it collected reports of more than 20 cases of physical violence against Colombian journalists over the course of Wednesday and Thursday alone.

The letter asks that “exhaustive and impartial investigations” be launched into each of the abuses, which occurred in as many as nine different departments across the country, and says that the “stigmatization [of journalists] for having informed on a given fact or having done so in a way contrary to the interests of particular agressors has been a constant danger” in the country.

No incidents are mentioned specifically, but denouncements of death threats and abuse have been made in other forums by members of the alternative press reporting on protests in Cauca, Valle and Boyaca.

More:
http://colombiareports.co/international-organization-journalists-calls-government-protect-colombian-journalism/