DATE=3/23/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=COLOMBIA-VIOLENCE PT I
NUMBER=5-45987
BYLINE=BILL RODGERS
DATELINE=BOGOTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Continuing violence in Colombia is increasingly
eroding free speech in the South American nation, as
murders of journalists, academics and others mount. In
the first of a two-part report, V-O-A's Bill Rodgers in
Bogota tells us about efforts to silence many of the
country's leading political analysts.
TEXT: /// AMBIENT SOUND OF CAMPUS ///
Students walk, talk and laugh as they stroll across the
sunny, green campus of the National University in
Bogota. It's a peaceful picture - similar to many
university campuses around the world.
But last September the National University was the
scene of violence when gunmen shot and killed professor
Jesus Antonio Bejarrano - an economist and former
government peace commissioner. Three months later, in
December, the director of the University's Institute
for Political Studies, Eduardo Pizarro, was shot on his
way to work. He survived but fled the country.
Professor Alvaro Camacho, who teaches at the Institute,
says the shootings - and an increase in death threats
against other faculty members - have created a climate
of intimidation at the university.
/// CAMACHO SPANISH ACT ///
He says what is clearly happening is the country's
armed groups are using violence to silence all thought.
It has simply become, he says, that one no longer has
the right to express an opinion, or to say anything
that might displease the armed groups.
Leftist rebels and rightwing paramilitary groups
control an estimated 40 percent of Colombia's territory
- and are responsible for murders, kidnappings and
other acts of violence throughout the country. Allied
with the country's drug traffickers, these armed groups
of the left and right have turned Colombia into one of
the most dangerous countries in the world - especially
for journalists, academics and others who shape public
opinion.
At the University of Antioquia in Medellin last year,
anthropology professor Hernan Henao was gunned down in
his office. Mr. Henao had been supervising research
into the displacement of Colombian peasants by the war.
Several months later a student council leader was
murdered at the same university by death squads who
claimed he was a guerrilla sympathizer.
All these assassinations - coupled with constant death
threats - are taking their toll on academic freedom.
In Bogota, five of the 17 faculty members at the
National University's Political Studies Institute have
fled Colombia over the past six months because they
were in danger. And the threats continue.
This past Tuesday, a message arrived at the Institute
by fax warning several professors by name not to
continue making comments that could be interpreted as
supporting the country's leftist guerrillas.
While this particular warning may have come from
Colombia's paramilitary groups - Professor Camacho says
there is no way to tell who may be behind the threat.
Mr. Camacho says the targets of the violence include
academics who are critical of both the right and the
left.
/// CAMACHO SPANISH ACT ///
He says there are cases of those who criticize one side
or another, but who cannot be placed in one camp or
another in the conflict. In general, he says, they are
intellectuals who are critical of the violence,
critical of the use of arms and of the war. Silencing
these voices, says Mr. Camacho, serves the interests of
all armed groups in Colombia.
Colombian authorities are virtually powerless to halt
the violence and threats. Yet the continuing
intimidation is having an effect on the country's
political discourse. Several of Colombia's prominent
political analysts are no longer writing articles or
granting interviews to the press to express their views
about the current situation. Even though they remain in
the country, they are, in effect, living in internal
exile.
This situation is likely to continue for the
foreseeable future. A top official at the United
Nations Human Rights office in Colombia (Eds: Oficina
en Colombia de la Alta Comisionada de Naciones Unidas
para los Derechos Humanos), Amerigo Incalcaterra, says
until there is more tolerance for opposing views in
Colombia there is likely to be no improvement.
/// INCALCATERRA SPANISH ACT ///
He says the simple fact that one holds a different view
should be enriching for a society. It should not be
considered something to be punished, or sanctioned. He
says there needs to be more tolerance, more confidence
building measures in Colombia before there can be any
improvement in the human rights situation.
But for now, there seems to be no sign of tolerance.
As the situation deteriorates, Professor Camacho and
other academics warn Colombia's fragile democracy is at
stake -- as free speech and open debate are gradually
silenced through violence and intimidation. (Signed)
NEB/WFR/JO
23-Mar-2000 16:51 PM EDT (23-Mar-2000 2151 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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