Colombia’s national army came under fire after on Tuesday after adding journalists, the war crimes tribunal and even the Red Cross to an “opposition” social media monitoring list.
The “opposition” list was discovered when investigative journalism website Cuestion Publica was added to the list. The website has reported extensively on a scandal linking a drug trafficking organization to President Ivan Duque.
According to Cuestion Publica, the army’s “opposition” list on Twitter included members of the political party of the demobilize guerrilla group FARC as well as the war crimes tribunal, human rights organizations and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The list contained only five opposition politicians.
The army’s “opposition” list
“Army lists stigmatize media and journalists”
Press freedom foundation FLIP expressed its concern that media were included in an “opposition” list.
Reporters Without Borders spokesperson Fabiola Leon said the “army lists stigmatize media and journalists with critical or different view on the complexity of the country.”
Lieutenant Carlos Manosalva told the website that “the list is a monitoring of what the opposition thinks.”
In a press release, the army apologized and said that “out of respect for individuals and the accounts of entities and organizations, they were eliminated as an immediate measure” after the criticism.
The FLIP responded that it will begin an investigation “in order to verify that there are no other irregularities that could affect the work of the press.”