Press targeted amid protests in Ecuador
THE COMMITTEE to Protect Journalists (CPS) this week called for both the authorities and demonstrators in Ecuador to stop harassing and attacking journalists covering ongoing protests.
As protests against the Ecuadorian government’s move to end fuel subsidies entered their seventh day Wednesday, journalists and media outlets continued to be targets of violence and attacks from the authorities and protesters, according to local media. As of October 8, Fundamedios, an Ecuadorian press freedom organisation, had documented 59 violations against the press, including detentions, threats, and acts of violence.
Violence against journalists and press workers came from both the security forces – as CPJ documented on October 4 – and protesters and members of unions, social movements, and indigenous groups participating in the demonstrations, according to a joint statement by several Ecuadorian human-rights organisations, including the Regional Foundation of Human Rights Consultancy (Fundación Regional de Asesoría en Derechos
Humanos, or INREDH), the Ecuadorian Commission on Human Rights (Comisión Ecuatoriana de Derechos Humanos), the
Observatory of Rights and Justice, and Fundamedios. Several journalists and outlets reported on Twitter that violence from protesters had prevented them from covering events, including foreign outlets such as Noticias Caracol from Colombia.
“As events in Ecuador develop, it is of vital importance that authorities make sure that journalists can cover the demonstrations freely and without harm or retaliation from security forces, government officials, or demonstrators,” said CPJ South and Central America Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick in New York.
“Groups participating in or policing the protests must understand the fundamental role that journalists play in reporting these events and refrain from preventing or in any way obstructing the work of the press.”