William Soto Cheng was shot by two unknown assailants on 18 December while arriving at work in Puerto de Buenaventura, located in South Eastern Colombia. Soto, a journalist with more than 15 years experience in the business, hosted an opinion programme as well as two leisure programmes at the local television station, Telemar. The motive for his murder has yet to be determined, however, Soto had been receiving threats on the telephone since the end of October, which had reportedly led him to think about leaving Buenaventura. During the October 26 elections, the journalist had apparently reported that members of the police and military were accomplices in a series of irregularities in the tally of votes. When several criminal charges were issued against him, he retracted his comments and apologised.
Juan Carlos Benavides Arevalo died on 22 August when the vehicle in which he was travelling was fired on, allegedly for failing to stop at a checkpoint. It is believed the checkpoint, near the town of Puerto Caicedo, was guarded by members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Benavides hosted a programme for Manantial Estereo, a community radio station situated in the town of Sibundoy. He was on his way to cover a meeting between President Álvaro Uribe and regional leaders and was accompanied by number of other passengers, including some local politicians, when the incident took place.
Jaime Rengifo Revero was shot to death in Maicao, a city in northern Colombia on 29 April. The assassin, who checked into Rengifo’s hotel under an assumed name, shot the reporter five times before fleeing by motorcycle with an accomplice. Mr Rengifo was the owner of the El Guajiro publishing company and the director and host of "Periodistas en Accion", a morning programme on Olimpica radio station which focused on civic issues. Rengifo had also reportedly denounced criminals operating in the city. Before the journalist’s murder, graffiti appeared on the walls of the town hall, warning the journalist would be killed. A son of a radio station manager, Rengifo had worked as a journalist for more than 20 years. Local police have acknowledged the murder was likely related to his profession as a journalist and have launched an investigation into Rengifo’s death.
Guillermo Bravo was murdered in his home by an unidentified assailant in Neiva, south-western Colombia, on 28 April. A director of the economic analysis programme "Hechos y Cifras" on the television station, Alpevision, Bravo was working on the programme in his living room when he was shot. According to his son, Mr Bravo had received threats on a number of occasions. The most recent threat was made a month before his death by a hired assassin, who had warned the journalist to leave the region because he was going to be killed. According to his son, Bravo filed a complaint with the Neiva Security Administrative Department (DAS). The journalist had recently been investigating irregularities in connection with a contract for the distribution of alcohol. Bravo, a journalist for two decades, had also worked with the daily newspapers "La Republica" and "Tribuna del Sur", and in 1980 received the Simon Bolivar national journalism award. Bravo also ran for mayor and town councillor in the last municipal elections and reportedly had some affiliation with leftist political movements. The DAS has a launched an investigation to his murder.
Jose Emeterio Rivas, a director of "Las Fuerzas Rivas", a call-in programme on the radio station Calor Estereo, was shot and killed by unidentified assailants while leaving a restaurant in Barrancabermeja on 18 April. Rivas often discussed municipal corruption and security matters on the programme, and his strong views and commentary were seen by many as controversial. The recipient of numerous death threats, Rivas had been under the Interior and Justice Ministry’s protection programme for journalists since January 2001, and had been assigned a police officer as a bodyguard. Although he had requested full-time protection, he was not provided with protection on weekends. At the time of his death, his case was under discussion by the Risk Evaluation Committee, to determine whether the level of protection he was receiving was adequate.
Luis Eduardo Alfonso Parada, a programme host for Radio Meridiano-70, was fatally shot outside his offices in Arauca in the early hours of 18 March. Two unidentified gunmen were waiting for Mr Alfonso outside the station’s offices and fled the scene by motorcycle after the assault. This is not the first attack on an employee of the radio station. In 2002, Efrain Varela Noriega, the station’s owner was also shot and killed in an attack suspected to have been carried out by paramilitary gunmen. Varela had alerted listeners to the presence of paramilitary forces in the region only days before he was murdered. Alfonso had also been covering the conflict between leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitaries in the region as a freelance journalist for Colombia’s largest daily, El Tiempo. He criticised all sides of the conflict, but was particularly critical of the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) - frequently reporting in detail on their activity. The journalist had been threatened previously by the group. Following the murder of Varela, Alfonso fled to Bogota as he feared for his life. There he tried, unsuccessfully, to secure help from a government protection programme for journalists. In November 2002, Alfonso’s name also appeared on a list distributed in the town of Arauca by paramilitary fighters. The list threatened to kill those listed unless they "reformed". Investigating forces have yet to officially name the perpetrators of the murder. |
