 Bogotá,
July 3, 2001 ---
Colombian radio reporter Pablo Emilio Parra Castañeda was murdered with
two shots to the head in central Tolima Department on June 27, according
to local press reports.
Parra, 50, was the founder and head of the community radio station
Planadas Cultural Estéreo in the town of Planadas. He was also a regular
contributor to print and radio media in the city of Neiva, capital of
Huila Department, and Ibagué, the capital of Tolima Department.
One of his radio programs was a long-distance learning project that involved
dictating high school lessons via radio for students who either lived
in isolated rural areas or were unable to attend formal classes because
of their jobs.
For the last four years, Parra had also served as president of the local
branch of the Colombian Red Cross.
Parra's corpse was found on the side of a rural road
between the town of Planadas and the nearby village of Gaitania, in an
area rife with illicit plantations of opium poppy used in the production
of heroin. The region is controlled by the 21st Front of the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), under the command of two FARC leaders
known as "Jerónimo" and "Pablo Catatumbo."
"We mourn the loss of our colleague Pablo Emilio Parra Castañeda," said
CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. "CPJ urges all sides in Colombia's
civil war to avoid similar tragedies in future by respecting the neutral
status of journalists."
Army, relative blame FARC
"He was dragged out of his home by FARC militia men and assassinated,"
according to a Colombian Army communiqué. The army claimed that a sign
reading "for stool pigeon and double-dealer" had been found pinned to
Parra's body.
Parra's son Pablo Fernando Parra Ruiz confirmed the death of his father
to the regional newspaper Tolima Siete Días, part of the El
Tiempo family. Pablo Fernando told CPJ that he blamed the FARC for
the murder.
It is unclear whether Parra's death was related to his work as a journalist.
CPJ will continue to investigate the murder and try to determine the motive.
Dangerous beat
According to CPJ research, four Colombian journalists have been killed
since January in circumstances possibly related to their work. Flavio
Bedoya, regional correspondent for the Communist Party newspaper Voz,
was killed on April 27 in the southwestern port city of Tumaco. Colleagues
linked the murder to a series of highly critical reports that Bedoya had
published about collusion between local security forces and right-wing
paramilitary gangs.
CPJ continues to investigate the murders of two Colombian sports reporters:
Carlos Alberto Trespalacios Yalí, killed in Medellín on April 30, and
Yesid Marulanda Romero, killed in Cali on May 3.
END
|
