Colombian radio reporter slain

By freedomforum.org staff

07.05.01

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Colombian radio reporter Pablo Emilio Parra Castañeda was killed last week in the central province of Tolima, according to local press reports picked up by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

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 province, and Ibagué, the capital of Tolima.

One of Parra's radio projects was an educational series involving broadcasts of high school lessons 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 body was found June 27 on the side of a rural road between Planadas and the nearby village of Gaitania, in an area noted for illegal plantations of opium poppies used in the production of heroin. He had been shot twice in the head.

The region where the body was found is controlled by the 21st Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC), under the command of two leaders known respectively as "Jerónimo" and "Pablo Catatumbo," according to CPJ.

"CPJ urges all sides in Colombia's civil war to avoid similar tragedies in future by respecting the neutral status of journalists," CPJ said in a statement protesting the killing.

"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, and told CPJ that he blamed the FARC for the murder.

Although it is unclear whether Parra's death was directly related to his work as a journalist, CPJ said that it would continue to investigate the murder and try to determine the motive.

The 37-year armed conflict between guerrilla forces and the military has made Colombia one of the world's most dangerous places for journalists.

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