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IFJ COLOMBIA DIRECTOR WINS SPANISH HUMAN RIGHTS JOURNALISM PRIZE

The director of the International Federation of Journalists' Solidarity Centre in Colombia (CESO-FIP) has won the Julio Anguita Parrado International Prize, the annual award from the Union of Andalucían Journalists in Spain, for his dedication to defending journalism and freedom of the press in Colombia.

After covering the armed conflict and peace process for several years, Eduardo Márquez González went on to fight for journalists' working conditions through his work as director of CESO-FIP and as the president of the Colombian Federation of Journalists (FECOLPER), which was launched in 2007.

The jury, made up of prominent Spanish journalists and university professors, recognised Márquez's "defence of journalism work in one of the most difficult and dangerous countries to report the news."

According to the International News Safety Institute, between 1996 and 2006, 72 journalists were killed in Colombia, making it the third most dangerous country for the press in that period after Iraq and Russia.

Named after Spanish reporter Julio Anguita Parrado, who was killed in a missile attack in Iraq in 2003, the award recognises the work of journalists who defend human rights. Márquez will receive the prize in Córdoba, Spain on 7 April, the fifth anniversary of Anguita's death.

For details, see:
- IFJ: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?index=5954&Language=EN
- Union of Andalucían Journalists: http://tinyurl.com/38pgtu
- CESO-FIP: http://tinyurl.com/38uweo
(18 March 2008)