Journalists meet to protest threats from criminal gangs (Neo-paramilitaries)

Journalists meet to protest threats from criminal gangs
Published on Thursday 11 December 2014. Updated on Friday 12 December 2014.

Journalists threatened by the paramilitary group “Bloque Capital - Águilas Negras” were holding a meeting in Bogotá today to publicize the dangers they face. The group has given news outlets a deadline of 1 January to leave the cities where they operate, but the government has yet to respond. Reporters Without Borders is concerned about the dangers to freedom of information and pluralism in Colombia.

Águilas Negras issued three blacklists in less than four days in early December, a clear sign that it wants to silence journalists that they find troublesome. It describes the targets as “terrorists directed by FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and the ELN (National Liberation Army)” whom the group vowed to “silence with lead”.

They comprise 14 journalists and 12 media organizations, most of them community-based or alternative outlets that cover the peace talks or investigate human rights abuses, organized crime and corruption.

The allegations by Águilas Negras bear a disturbing resemblance to those made by the former president, Senator Alvaro Uribe, during a debate in September this year in which he accused the public television station Canal Capital of being “an accomplice of terrorism”.

More:
http://en.rsf.org/colombia-journalists-meet-to-protest-11-12-2014,47374.html