IACHR requests Bolivia to guarantee that journalists may perform their work

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Special Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on Wednesday urged the Bolivian government to grant journalists in the country “guarantees” to be able to perform their work, in reaction to the recent attacks on reporters.

The Rapporteurship of the IACHR, based in Washington, expressed “its concern over reports on the use of force and detentions against press workers” covering a conflict between coca leaf producers in the city of La Paz on Tuesday.

Bolivian journalistic unions denounced that Santiago Limachi and Sergio Limachi, both correspondents of an international agency, were injured, and that Carlos Quisbert, a journalist for Página Siete newspaper, was arrested in the operation deployed by the police to disperse the coca growers.

According to the Rapporteur’s Office, which cited available information, the Página Siete journalist “was attacked and detained by the police,” while the two correspondents “were reportedly injured by tear gas.”

It further said it had received reports that, in preceding days, “attacks on reporters” had occurred in the cities of Santa Cruz and Cochabamba.

“The Rapporteurship recalls that the work of journalists in contexts of social conflict is crucial to keep the public informed; so it calls on the State to grant them the maximum degree of guarantees so they may perform their duties freely and safely,” the agency said.

After the events, Bolivia’s Minister Carlos Eduardo Del Castillo on Tuesday announced an investigation into the events that occurred in the Adepcoca market in La Paz, and guaranteed the work of the press “in every corner of the country.”

Bolivia’s Vice Minister of Communication Gabriela Alcón visited the facilities of the Special Force for the Fight Against Crime (FELCC) to arrange Quisbert’s “immediate” release.