His Excellency President Álvaro Uribe Vélez President of the Republic Bogotá, Colombia 19 December 2002 Your Excellency, We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 100 countries, to express our serious concern at a bomb attack on Caracol Radio station. According to reports, on 9 December a 15kg ammonia bomb exploded in the Caracol Radio studios, in the Prados del Este neighbourhood of Cúcuta. This is the third attack on the media in Cúcuta in less than a month. The transmission antenna and signal box were damaged in the explosion and both Caracol Radio and Radio Reloj were temporarily forced to go off the air. No one was injured in the attack. The cost of the damages may be as much as 300 million pesos (about US$110,000). In a 10 December telephone call to the daily La Opinión, the Front 33 Catatumbo Unit of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) claimed responsibility for the bombing. According to the journalist who took the call, an alleged FARC commander claimed that the group had carried out the attack against the Caracol transmitters because "[the stations] were playing the game of [President Álvaro] Uribe's government and the military". We respectfully call on you to take all steps necessary to ensure that those responsible for the bomb attack are swiftly brought to justice. We urge you to do everything possible to foster an environment in which journalists are able to exercise their right to inform without fear of violence. We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience. Yours sincerely, Seok Hyun Hong President World Association of Newspapers Gloria Brown Anderson President World Editors Forum |
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