Colombia militias threat to journalist - U.N.
Source: Reuters
By Patrick Markey BOGOTA, June 8 (Reuters) - Colombia must do more to protect a reporter working for the Spanish-language sister paper of the Miami Herald after he received threats from paramilitaries, a U.N. panel said on Friday. The U.N. High Commission for Human Rights said Gonzalo Guillen of El Nuevo Herald had been intimidated by paramilitaries. It provided no details, but Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the government that Guillen, a Colombian citizen, had been tipped off that militia gunmen were looking to murder him in Bogota. "We are aware of the measures adopted by the authorities in this case and we are confident those measures will be reinforced to protect Gonzalo Guillen's life and free exercise of journalism," the U.N. commission said in a statement. Humberto Castello, executive editor of El Nuevo Herald, said several editors at the Miami-based newspaper had received an anonymous e-mail saying Guillen was in danger because paramilitaries were conspiring with Bogota police officers against him. "We take it seriously," Castello said. "We proceeded to let him know what was happening, and also we contacted Bogota's police chief to talk to him personally." The chief later sent an e-mail promising to investigate and to safeguard Guillen, Castello said. "The police chief said that they would take care of his life, but in that situation you never know," Castello said. "We have strong concerns, that's the most I can say." Violence from Colombia's four-decade conflict has dropped under President Alvaro Uribe, who has led a U.S.-funded campaign to push back left-wing rebels and disarm paramilitary gangs who once fought them. But rights groups say militia commanders have kept their criminal networks intact. More than 100 journalists have been killed in Colombia since the 1980s and more have fled the country because of threats by illegal armed groups and drug traffickers who ship cocaine mainly to the United States and Europe. (Additional reporting by Jane Sutton in Miami)
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