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Alert

Journalist threatened in Bogotá

(FLIP/IFEX) - On 7 and 8 September 2004, journalist and human rights investigator Claudia Julieta Duque received threatening telephone calls. The callers, whose voices were recorded on her answering machine, referred to her as a "damn stupid woman" and as "gonorrhoea".

According to Duque, in addition to the threatening telephone calls, she has also been followed by individuals who pursue her in vehicles, particularly in taxis, patrolling the area around her home and the places she frequents. On one occasion, the journalist was able to photograph a person who had been watching her house for days.

The threats and surveillance began when Duque initiated an investigation into apparent irregularities in the case of journalist and humorist Jaime Garzón, who was assassinated in August 1999 (see IFEX alerts of 12 March 2004, 10 December and 24 September 2003, 17 December, 30 and 28 October, 26 September, 19 July and 22 March 2002, and others). Recently, the threats have intensified.

After Duque informed the National Police's Human Rights Office (Dirección de Derechos Humanos de la Policía Nacional) about the actions against her, they determined she was facing a "moderate to high" risk that the threats would be carried out.

The journalist also filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office and provided a list of the licence plates of the vehicles she suspects have been following her. FLIP subsequently submitted a request to the Public Prosecutor's Office for information on the status of the investigation into Duque's case. The organisation was told that no information on the case could be found, even though FLIP had included the file number and the division of the prosecutor's office which should have been in charge of the investigation.

The José Alvear Restrepo lawyers' collective has stated that Duque is receiving threats because of her investigation into the Garzón case and her allegations that the Administrative Department of Security (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, DAS) is responsible for mounting a false case against Juan Pablo Ortiz Agudelo, alias "Bochas", and Edilberto Sierra Ayala, alias "Toño", for Garzón's murder.

Coincidentally, the threats against Duque tend to increase as hearings on the Garzón case approach. In November and December 2003, as the court was about to rule on the case, the journalist began to receive threatening calls on a regular basis. Similarly, in August 2004, the threats increased after Duque's investigation into the Garzón murder was featured on the television programme "Contravía".

FLIP urges the Attorney General's office to locate Duque's missing file and thoroughly investigate the threats against the journalist. The organisation also urges the Solicitor General's Office to oversee the process.