Press freedom worsens in Colombia: NGO

[Judi Lynn]

Press freedom worsens in Colombia: NGO
Wednesday, 20 October 2010 09:26 Manuela Kuehr

The annual report by NGO Reporters Without Borders indicates that the level of press freedom in Colombia has sharply deteriorated. Colombia fell by 19 places in the index to be ranked 145th out of 178 countries. Last year it came 126th out of the 175 countries evaluated.

Clothilde Le Coz, director of the NGO's Washington office, told Colombia Reports that Reporters Without Borders went to Colombia to investigate the situation and found a "very violent country" where the government has been spying on journalists.

Many high ranking officials who served under former President Alvaro Uribe are accused of complicity in the illegal wiretapping of government opponents, including prominent journalists, by government security agency DAS.

The previous government of President Alvaro Uribe, Le Coz says, often sent security guards to spy on journalists under the pretext of increasing their security. This move, she says, had "huge consequences for the reporters," and the new government should investigate this problem.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/12472-colombia-press-freedom-reporters-without-borders.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Two Top Uribe Aides Face Questioning in Colombia Spy Scandal

Caracas,
Thursday
October 21,2010

Two Top Uribe Aides Face Questioning in Colombia Spy Scandal

BOGOTA – Two top advisers in former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe’s 2002-2010 administration have been called to testify about their alleged role in the illegal wiretapping of judges, politicians and human rights defenders.

The Attorney General’s Office summoned the former director of the DAS security agency, Andres Peñate, and Colombia’s current ambassador to the Vatican, erstwhile Uribe press secretary Cesar Mauricio Velasquez.

Peñate, who headed the spy agency between November 2005 and August 2007, has been accused by former DAS deputy chief of operations Martha Leal of instructing her – on orders from Uribe – to eavesdrop on opposition Sen. Piedad Cordoba during a 2007 visit to Mexico.

Leal is part of a group of nearly 20 current or former DAS officials arrested and prosecuted for their role in the illegal wiretapping and monitoring of Supreme Court justices, opposition politicians, human rights advocates and prominent journalists.

More:
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=373176&CategoryId=12393

[Judi Lynn]

2. Colombia has 50,000 disappeared: Official

Colombia has 50,000 disappeared: Official
Wednesday, 20 October 2010 14:46 Linda Azodi

http://colombiareports.com.nyud.net:8090/pics/victims/mothers.jpg

Colombia has one of the highest number of forcibly disappeared people in the world, with 50,000 individuals missing, the Ombudsman's National Search Commission coordinator Andres Peña told EFE on Wednesday.

Most of the disappeared are victims of "illegal groups, paramilitaries mainly and guerrillas, and an important part correspond to agents of the state," says Peña.

Colombia's Congress on Tuesday ratified the United Nations' International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, adopted in 2006.

Peña said that Colombia's situation is particularly difficult because most countries are in a post-conflict situation when they begin to investigate cases of disappearances, whereas Colombia is still facing conflict.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/12486-colombia-has-50000-disappeared-official.html