Abstract
As reporters in Peru come under attack, the head of the country's National Association of Journalists says they are fighting back
Peru has always been regarded in Latin America as one of the riskiest countries for journalists, but it receives little attention. We do not have the number of murders that occur in Mexico or Honduras, but in the last decade Peru has suffered the highest number of physical attacks and lawsuits against the media. On average, a journalist is attacked every four days.
This year has been particularly dangerous for us, not least because of important regional and municipal elections. This creates a volatile situation that exposes many local and regional journalists to dangerous situations. Those with political aspirations seek to silence press criticism, often resorting to physical aggression or the courts by launching lawsuits for alleged crimes against a politician's honour. This makes journalists more reluctant to investigate and report.
One stark example of this situation is the fact that in those regions where officials are being investigated for alleged corruption we have witnessed the greatest number of threats and attacks. Such statistics reveal the real cause for the increasing number of assaults on media freedom. Journalists are being threatened, attacked and prosecuted simply for exposing acts of corruption. We have witnessed a particular rise in the number of attacks in Ancash, Tumbes, Ayacucho, Lambayeque and Loreto.
But it is not just physical attacks posing a growing threat to our media freedom. Many authorities attempt to silence critical press by effectively buying reporters or media. They control much of the advertising and the media cannot survive without their financial and political support. In some cases, they force programmes that tell uncomfortable truths off the air or co-opt local media owners since they effectively control who can have licences or use transmission equipment through the communications ministry. There are more and more cases where information is censored or journalists are denied the right to receive information that should be freely available. Such practices are being driven regionally by public officials and political figures attempting to muzzle the media.
If all that fails they resort to physical aggression, threats and smear campaigns against individual journalists in social media to destroy their reputation.
A clear example of the kind of attacks faced by media came at Wari Radio in Huamanga – a popular station in the Ayacucho region that regularly broadcasts news programmes, interviews and reports not liked by the regional authorities. According to leaked reports in the possession of the National Association of Journalists (ANP), civil servants at the ministry of transport and communications accused the radio station of technical and public health irregularities regarding its transmission equipment. This is the fourth time in a year it has been subjected to fines and inspections for alleged technical failures.
Attacks by the mayor
The station has also been the subject of outspoken attacks by the mayor of Huamanga, Amilcar Huancahuari Tueros, which damage its reputation and business. The station had been reporting on Huancahuari's alleged involvement in the illegal administration of municipal property.
In the city of Tarapoto, a similar situation exists. The television news programme Enfoques, presented by the journalist Glenda Mello Pinedo, has been forced off the open-signal TV channel, as a consequence of pressure by Sandro Uzátegui Rivero, a mayoral candidate for San Martin province. The programme broadcast a series of reports exposing allegations of corrupt activity that would have disqualified Rivero from running for public office. The programme was told that in order to broadcast on an open-air channel in the future, it would have to submit all its reports to prior review by the authorities. It refused.
We have had to deal with attacks on journalists and the right to report at the daily newspapers Voces and Super as well as at Tropical Radio, which recently exposed the political corruption that took place under former management. Issues of this nature are spreading in different parts of the country. The owners of Channel 41 have axed the Aportes news programme, hosted by the journalist Elias Juarez Silvestre. The company's accountant let slip the real reason for the closure when he revealed that the “content of the news programme collided with the business that keeps the TV station in line with the provincial municipality of Chiclayo”. Just a few weeks prior to the closure, the programme had revealed irregularities in the municipal administration of mayor Roberto Gonzales Torres, who was arrested following the elections on corruption charges.
In Tumbes, the journalist Ursula Pinedo, who presents the news show Hoy por Hoy on the La Hechicera radio station, was assaulted in broad daylight – the third time one of its reporters has been attacked, all allegedly by people close to the regional government officials. The station, along with Channel 43, has also had its broadcast equipment damaged in several recent incidents.
The radio journalist Lenin Bardález Quevedo was the victim of a campaign of moral demolition after he was critical of the actions of a candidate in the elections. The reporter Carlos Vargas Rengifo and the cameraman Raúl Ruiz Inuma, who work for the news show Live, on Amazon TV – Channel 35, were attacked by a group of workers from the regional government of Loreto. The assailants grabbed their camera and deleted the images they had recorded on a story about poor management of local waste facilities before returning it damaged. When journalists from other media went to the council building to ask questions they were attacked too. Some of them were heavily beaten.
We have also received similar reports this year from Iquitos, Huancayo and Pucallpa, among other provinces. In Ancash region – the most dangerous for journalists for the past two years – the head of the regional council, César Alvarez, frequently uses the courts to create fear among journalists and whistle-blowers and draw a blanket of silence over the activities of the local authorities. These actions are not about defending the honour and integrity of the authorities, but about silencing any questioning or opposition voices.
On World Press Freedom Day, the ANP organised an “SOS Journalists” forum where we highlighted some of the most urgent cases of attacks on media freedom. The leading correspondents, Rudy Huallpa, Esther Valenzuela and Yofré Sifuentes Lopez, were in no doubt that Peru's journalists are working hard to investigate crime and that the press is showing real bravery to keep on reporting in the face of the attacks, but that the threat is greater than ever. Now is the time when we must defend our freedom and be proud of what we do.
When Yofré Lopez, who suffered a bomb attack on his home on April 22, tells us that we must not be silent, we must not give in to fear, it inspires others and converts a sense of hopelessness into a strong rallying cry for media freedom. Yofré López, the director of the print and digital newspaper barranca.pe, had published allegations of corruption in public office involving the mayor of Barranca. He also published allegations against the sugar company Agro Industrial Paramonga (AIPSA), which unsuccessfully sued him for defamation
If the victim of such attacks is convinced that we must make a stand we have a moral duty to support it. We all know it can be Lopez today, but any of us tomorrow. We have a duty to citizens and to support journalists who have waged battles against corruption and keep doing their job in the face of the threats.
Journalists feel alone
The assaults, threats and lawsuits are often against individual journalists, but also serve as a warning to us all. It's as if the assailants say: do not mess with us, look how this will end. Testimonies we heard in the forum made it clear how dangerous and fragile the situation is for media freedom. Journalists feel alone and exposed.
The case of Rudy Huallpa Cayo, who lost the sight in his left eye while covering a protest in Puno in front of the regional government offices as a result of a shot fired by a police captain, shows why. There has been no prosecution. Huallpa Cayo is made to feel more like the culprit than the victim and the authorities do not even bother responding to his communications.
According to statistics from the Oficina de los Derechos Humanos (Office of Human Rights), in 2013 there were 129 attacks on journalists, including 65 physical and verbal attacks, 34 incidents threats and harassment, 18 legal attacks, four cases that resulted in damage to property, three thefts, three cases of undue administrative pressure and three attempted murders. During the first four months of 2014 there were 47 attacks on media workers, including 15 threats or harassment, 14 physical assaults, seven cases where the authorities have resorted to legal pressure, six administrative cases setting up obstacles to the free exercise of journalism, two cases where the free flow of information has been impeded, two kidnappings and one theft of journalistic material.
Of those attacks, 15 were perpetrated by the police, 12 by civilians, 11 by government officials and nine by unknown assailants.
Everything indicates that there will be new pressures to restrict the free exercise of journalism and the right to information, and the ANP forum made it clear that we need to step up our defence of independent journalism. We plan to build a nationwide network to increase the visibility and publicity surrounding incidents of aggression or threats and provide not only advice but also legal representation for cases. In that way the authorities will be forced to realise that there are national mechanisms in defence of journalists.
The second step is to implement a protection programme. Instead of being one of the perpetrators of violence against journalists, we need the police to take this issue seriously and provide guarantees that journalists will be able to work free from threats and harassment. We also need to tackle the growing concentration of media ownership and ensure a greater plurality of voices in the media.
Journalists in Peru have shown a commitment to defending media freedom. They have been on strike against programme closures and to defend their rights. As an association we are ensuring cases are made public, that legal assistance is available, and that journalists have a space to come together to show professional solidarity. In cases where journalists have been assaulted or are at risk we have a shelter they can stay at.
We have been working to get the interior ministry to implement a protection programme for journalists, similar to that developed in Colombia, Mexico and Guatemala. The response so far has been negative – it claims journalists are not a priority sector and that it is impossible to introduce such protection mechanisms. One thing is certain – Peru's journalists will not stay silent about these attacks. We have a job to do.