Various press associations in Peru have demanded an investigation into the apparent kidnapping of journalists from the Sunday program “Cuarto Poder” on the América Televisión network. The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) and the Commission on Freedom of the Press and Information have also shown their condemnation for this attack on institutions in the South American country.
Reporters Eduardo Quispe and Elmer Valdivieso were detained on Wednesday, July 6, by a group of suspected patrolmen in the town of Chadín, Cajamarca. They arrived in that region of northern Peru to continue with an investigation of President Pedro Castillo’s sister-in-law, whom they had exposed last Sunday in a video offering sanitation works to a community in September of last year.
On Wednesday night, Quispe was forced to give a message at the national level to rectify the report he had spread about Castillo’s sister-in-law. “It is a false accusation, and we rectify ourselves as the press not to harm the central government and their families. In this sense, our commitment as a press ratifies some facts. We apologize to the peasant patrols of the Chadin district and at the national level for acting not according to the truth”, he said.
On Thursday afternoon, the journalists arrived in Lima after this sad event. At a press conference, in which the voice of america was present, Eduardo Quispe provided more details of his kidnapping. “We arrived at the community of Las Palmas, 15 minutes from Chadín, at 4:30 in the afternoon. Before we had recorded with the mayor and people from the area who gave us information about last week’s report. So, we had to do support shots and that’s where the kidnapping happened, ”he mentioned.
The reporter noted that the community members mentioned that he had entered their territory without permission. To try to make up for this supposed error, Quispe assured that he apologized to them, but they were not accepted. “We were kidnapped for more than five hours. Around 40 ronderos surrounded us with whips. They had the report that was presented on the president’s sister-in-law who harmed them to obtain the work in the short or medium term, ”he indicated.
Quispe recounted some critical moments he experienced during his kidnapping. “I hear so many threats that I say to one: “Well, what are they going to do, are they going to beat us to death? That’s it?”. And one of them comes with whip in hand and told me: “Don’t worry, you’ll see,” he assured. The journalist maintained that the ronderos evaluated whether he and his companion would walk barefoot or go to a lagoon. Finally, one suggested that he read a manuscript in exchange for their release, which he did.
The journalists from the “Cuarto Poder” program were released, but without their press teams. In the last hours, the Ministry of the Interior and the National Police have recovered the material that they had recorded in Cajamarca.
The arrest of the journalists has caused the Association of Journalists of Peru, the National Association of Journalists, the Federation of Journalists, the Council of the Peruvian Press and the Institute of Press and Society to condemn this act. They demanded the Government of Pedro Castillo to identify those responsible.
Far from condemning this act, members of the Executive questioned whether what happened to the journalists was a kidnapping or not. “There was a kidnapping, well, I don’t know if it was a kidnapping, but what it is should be investigated objectively. In a civilized country, the honor, the dignity, the life, the patrimony of the people are respected, because only in this way can one live in peace, in harmony”, said Prime Minister Aníbal Torres in an activity in Cajamarca.
For his part, the Minister of the Interior, Mariano González, indicated on Wednesday night that he could not confirm that it was patrolmen who detained the journalists. “We cannot confirm (whether they are patrolmen), but what we can tell you is that the life and integrity of the journalists and the driver is guaranteed. It will proceed according to law, the complaint will be made, the corresponding investigations, but seeing it from the human point of view, I think the most important thing is that they are safe, “he mentioned.
For their part, the ronderos have called a strike in Cajamarca for Sunday, July 10, to reject the kidnapping of the journalists from the program “Cuarto Poder” on América Televisión.
The ronderos say that it was not a kidnapping, but a detention because the journalists allegedly did not ask for permission to enter their territories. There is an interesting detail that is going to be investigated and it is that according to a plenary session of the Supreme Court in 2009 it indicates that the peasant patrols do not commit the crime of kidnapping when they arrest a person.
Attack on freedom of expression?
At the beginning of June, the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) published its report on the state of freedom of expression in Peru and diagnosed “a climate of tension between the Government, Congress and the media, various forms of violence and harassment against journalists” as a result of the institutional crisis that was experienced in 2020 and the electoral campaign last year.
In addition, they indicated that “a serious deterioration of the public debate, serious daily limitations on the work of the press, a climate of violence and hostility against journalists and the media, as well as constant attempts to exclude different thoughts, even through violence physical”.
Among their conclusions, they highlighted the “lack of access to information and the increase in obstacles for journalists to access public sources, including access to physical spaces, official documentation and the officials themselves.”
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