About IFEX:

News by region:

IFEX Campaigns and Advocacy:

IFEX Email Products:

Opportunities and assistance:

Alert

Photographer and his assistant murdered in Cali

(FLIP/IFEX) - On 21 October 2007, hired killers shot to death photographer Carlos Alberto Jaramillo and his assistant, Julio César García. The crime took place in the neighbourhood of Los Alcázares, in northern Cali, when the journalists were setting off in a car in order to cover a cycling competition. Jaramillo, 50, was shot several times in the face and chest. He died immediately. García, 43, was taken to hospital where he also died.

Jaramillo had returned to Colombia from Israel two years before. He worked for the newspaper "La Crónica de Quindío" in the Armenia region. He also contributed to the newspaper "Q'hubo" in Cali, where he covered sporting events.

Jesús Antonio Gómez, commander of the National Police in the Cauca Valley, told FLIP and IPYS that although the prosecutor's investigation is only beginning, the first hypothesis is that the killing was motivated by personal revenge.

"Q'hubo" editor Rubén Darío Valencia told FLIP and IPYS that Jaramillo was currently working independently, at social events and as a freelancer for some of the local media. According to his relatives, a week before the murder Jaramillo mentioned some personal problems with people in Armenia.

FLIP and IPYS are deeply concerned by these murders and urge the authorities to investigate the crime, to capture those responsible and to determine if the murders were related to Jaramillo's and García's work as journalists.