Press body: ‘scandalous impunity’ in killings of Colombian journalists

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The Knight Center Blog for Journalism in the Americas reports that the Inter American Press Assn. (IAPA) has described as ‘scandalous’ the lack of justice for 16 slain Colombian journalists.

The investigations into their deaths have either been suspended, filed away or discontinued by resolution.

‘According to an investigation by the IAPA’s rapid response unit, the 16 cases have similar characteristics: all were crimes committed between 1993 and 2009, and all were handled by local and regional prosecutors instead of the human rights division of the attorney general’s office.

‘In a statement, the president of the IAPA, Enrique Santos, said ‘the scandalous impunity in these criminal cases is a factor that fuels violence against journalists.’ He called for greater efforts to achieve justice and to ‘stop weakening press freedom.’ ‘

Read the full post on the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas blog here, and more about the dangers for journalists across Latin America here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City.