Colombia preparing tropical paradise for tourism after 500...
Hacktivists leak 178,000 documents from Colombia’s military
Colombia’s sentenced for exterminating political party
Colombia’s capital Bogota awarded for failing crime policy
OAS urges Colombia to release people arrested over...
Colombia’s war crimes tribunal hears notorious former warlord
Colombia’s GDP and GNI
Panama arrests US citizen suspected in Colombia of...
Colombia seeking mastermind behind Paraguay prosecutor kill plot
Colombia’s government and ELN rebels overcome “crisis” in...
  • About
  • Support
  • Newsletter
  • Contact
Colombia News | Colombia Reports
  • News
    • General
    • Analysis
    • War and peace
    • Elections
    • Economy
    • Culture
    • Sports
    • Science and Tech
  • Travel
    • General
    • Bogota
    • Medellin
    • Cali
    • Cartagena
    • Antioquia
    • Caribbean
    • Pacific
    • Coffee region
    • Amazon
    • Southwest Colombia
    • Northeast Colombia
    • Central Colombia
  • Data
    • Economy
    • Crime and security
    • War and peace
    • Development
    • Cities
    • Regions
    • Provinces
  • Profiles
    • Organized crime
    • Politics
    • Armed conflict
    • Economy
    • Sports
  • Lite
  • Opinion
Death threat sent to journalists accused of being "servile to Castrochavismo," a term dubbed by former President Alvaro Uribe.
News

Colombia opens hotline for threatened journalists, social leaders and human rights defenders

by Adriaan Alsema August 9, 2018

Colombia’s prosecution announced on Wednesday that it has opened a hotline for journalists, social leaders and human rights defenders who receive death threats.

The hotline was opened after foreign governments called on authorities to act against an increase in far-right death threats against journalists, representatives of conflict victims, community leaders and human rights defenders.


International community urges Colombia to act amid wave of death threats against journalists


The hotline will allow “immediate assistance” in the event a journalist or a leader receives a threat, the prosecution said on its website and Twitter.

#ATENCIÓN #Fiscalía habilitó la línea celular 350 6011181 y el correo electrónico recepcion.amenazas@fiscalia.gov.co para dar atención inmediata a las denuncias que se presenten sobre amenazas contra líderes sociales, defensores de derechos humanos y periodistas

— Fiscalía Colombia (@FiscaliaCol) August 8, 2018

According to the Ombudsman’s Office, more than 300 social leaders have been assassinated since 2016, the year that former President Juan Manuel Santos signed peace with now-disarmed FARC guerrillas.

The Foundation for the Freedom of Press (FLIP) said last month that 124 journalists have also received death threats.

In a tweet, FLIP added Monday that in the southern Putumayo local journalists have received four death threats over the past five days alone.

The United Nations, the US government and multiple foreign organizations have said to be “extremely concerned” about the aggression and deadly violence.

President Ivan Duque rejected the killing of social leaders in his inaugural speech on Tuesday, but failed to announce action against the violence that has spiked since he was elected in June.

While both Duque and Prosecutor General Nestor Humberto Martinez have claimed much of this violence comes from drug traffickers, independent analysts have stresses that many of the threats are of political nature and originate from pro-government far-right groups.

While announcing the hotline, the prosecution said it would work closely with the FLIP, the organization that has been defending the freedom of press and the safety of those reporting on the country.

In a press release, the Prosecutor General’s Office said it was investigating 188 death threats that targeted 227 journalists since 2016.

Far-right violence has spiked after the demobilization of the FARC, which controlled approximately one third of Colombia’s national territory. Using brutal methods, the guerrilla group maintained order in regions traditionally neglected by the state until their demobilization last year.

death threatshuman rightsPress freedomsocial leaders

Trending

  • Panama arrests US citizen suspected in Colombia of murdering fiancé

  • Colombia’s capital Bogota awarded for failing crime policy

  • Colombia’s war crimes tribunal hears notorious former warlord

For patrons

Downloads for patrons

Related articles

  • OAS urges Colombia to release people arrested over 2021 protests

  • Poverty, violence and Colombia’s State failures main human rights concerns in 2022: HRW

  • Violence against Colombia’s social leaders persists despite peace initiatives

  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Rss

@2008-2019 - Colombia Reports. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by Digitale Zaken and Parrolabs


Back To Top
Colombia News | Colombia Reports
  • News
    • General
    • Analysis
    • War and peace
    • Elections
    • Economy
    • Culture
    • Sports
    • Science and Tech
  • Travel
    • General
    • Bogota
    • Medellin
    • Cali
    • Cartagena
    • Antioquia
    • Caribbean
    • Pacific
    • Coffee region
    • Amazon
    • Southwest Colombia
    • Northeast Colombia
    • Central Colombia
  • Data
    • Economy
    • Crime and security
    • War and peace
    • Development
    • Cities
    • Regions
    • Provinces
  • Profiles
    • Organized crime
    • Politics
    • Armed conflict
    • Economy
    • Sports
  • Lite
  • Opinion