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Opponents, critics and journalists who denounce corruption and human rights violations in Colombia, are persecuted, “legally” processed and labeled as undesirable by the machinery of power. The documentary of Hollman Morris and Juan José Lozano is current than ever. (Photo www.deza.admin.ch/ Seinforma)
After being introduced in the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, the awarded documentary Unwanted Witness remains unknown in Colombia. Nevertheless, its main plot is current than ever. Its protagonist is the award-winning author and persecuted journalist Hollman Morris.
***
09/13/09
By: Miguel Gonzalez/Seinforma Correspondent
Bogota.- A new version of the Toronto International Film Festival has just began and people still remember a third-world-award-winning documentary introduced during the 2008 edition: Unwanted Witness, from Colombia.
However, after collecting awards around the world during the past 12 months, the film hasn’t been broadcast in its native Colombia yet.
Under the current Colombian government, it is becoming almost impossible to disagree or criticize its policies and actions. Each time a member of the opposition, a journalist, a non-governmental organization (NGO) or other national or international groups such as indigenous minorities, labor unions or human rights defenders are targeted and stigmatized by the same government or its allies.
Those brave people are subject to investigations or actually using state security agencies used in an illegal manner; communications are intercepted, they spy privacy, they are branded as immoral and therefore forbidden to discuss or report various issues (1) that uneasy the government for its alleged involvement in corruption and violation of Human Rights (2) in the country and anything that questions the transparency in the implementation of "democratic security policy" and the unfulfilled promise of combat politicking.
This means the weakening of safeguards to exercise the opposition and to speak freely without fear of being threatened, judged, stigmatized or affected in their personal integrity; and there is a major risk for denouncing human rights violations committed by state agents or by inaction of the institutions responsible for ensuring the security and integrity of Colombian citizens, as is the rule of law stated in the Constitution of 1991.
Dangerous profession
Hence the exercise of the opposition to claim government arbitrariness tends to be a dangerous option for those who dare to do so; they also become a target of discrimination and public insult from government, armed groups, mass media and even the common citizen, which leads to isolation and social stigma (3).
In Colombia, mistrust to the same state is due, as demonstrated in the case of wiretapping and illegal research to journalists, members of the top courts of justice in Colombia, labor organizations and to opposition politicians (4).
Holman Morris is one of the distinguished journalists for its commitment to denouncing human rights violations that take place in Colombia daily. Despite threats against his personal integrity, he returned from exile because he believes that "as a journalist, it is our duty to give voice to victims, to report violators of human rights, be they guerrillas, military, drug traffickers or government forces." (5)
It is an activity that has included him among those pursued by the Department of Administrative Security (DAS), the Colombian intelligence agency (6), alongside other journalists as Carlos Lozano, Ramiro Bejarano, Daniel Coronel and others.
The documentary Unwanted Witness (Without a break) was introduced last year in the XXXIII edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, whose protagonist is the Colombian journalist Holman Morris. This film shows the situation of the victims of the fratricidal war in Colombia, waged between state forces, guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug traffickers, to expose "the barbarity that nobody wants to see", Morris says, "to show a conflict forgotten by the major powers at a time when there is a counter-media to say that Colombia is pure passion. "(7)
The journalist, who feared for his life even more when the film comes to his country, is firmly convinced that "to fight the barbarity we must tell it and show it." This is part of the revelation of the uncomfortable truth that many Colombians and the world does not want to understand regarding the conflict affecting the South American nation for over 4 decades, in which the losers are the more than 3 million people displaced because of war and half of its 40 million inhabitants living in poverty.
These are some of the reasons Morris is interested in not only for his personal situation but for his nation’s one. Hence his determination building the truth about the war in Colombia, not only with this film but also with the TV series Contravía (<http://www.contravia.tv/>).
Morris, an award-winning journalist for his work in defense of human rights, hopes that the film “will be a chance to see many other protagonists in the Colombian drama to help increase awareness to the viewers in different parts of the world," because, "there is too much talking on Ingrid Betancourt and the guerrillas only. And while recognizing that the barbarism of the abduction is hue, we must also remember that there are thousands of missing people in Colombia, which were quartered and killed, and it is a need to give visibility to these other dramas. "(8)
The revealing lens of Juan José Lozano
Unwanted Witness is a documentary produced by the also Colombian Juan Jose Lozano, which narrate four months of crossings of Morris, that “documents the attacks to Human Rights” (9) in his country. Through the lens he shows the tragedy of the indigenous, Afro-Colombian and peasant communities who are victims of the various actors of the Colombian armed conflict, unknown in many parts of the world or who have a distorted view due to the image built by the same actors who sell the war abroad.
All this barbarism led Lozano to show the invisible reality doing what he does, filming. "His heart and head are back in Colombia," he said about Morris, (10) “where the dehumanization and indifference, lifted by injustice and impunity made that Colombians become used to this unusual living situation as if it was completely normal. What you see when you are with the victims or the families of the victims ... You feel as if they were ashamed to go to report their case: that her husband was killed or disappeared. As if feeling shame, because they consider it normal ... "(11) says Lozano.
All this violence is the product of a corrupt state where it operates and where it doesn’t; in this last case, it is replaced by illegal people who are disputing local authorities, administering justice, handling politics, raising taxes, controlling the social and legal trade.
And in the midst of war the only victim is the civil society. Therefore the importance of journalists committed to the construction of truth and reporting various unjust, illegal and inhumane actions that the lords of war do, that is bleeding Colombia.
Truth is necessary for peace, through its knowledge reconciliation begins to be rebuilt and it is a necessary step to ensure no recurrence of these unfortunate incidents for humanity and the country itself. Such situations warrant and demand the existence of brave journalists like Morris, alongside many others, who risk their lives to show the true that Colombia is claiming.
* Miguel Gonzalez is a Profesional in Information Services and Knowledge Management, Master in Political Studies and Specialist in Market Management.
______________________________________________________
(1)Some cases that demonstrate this situation are: Yidis Medina video facing the Government with journalist Daniel Coronell <http://www.caracol.com.co/nota.aspx?id=581732> ; Request for investigation to Daniel Coronell made by Uribe in case of yidispolítica opens controversy.
<http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/justicia/2008-08-22/solicitud-de-investigacion-a-daniel-coronell-hecha-por-uribe-en-caso-de-yidispolitica-abre-polemica_4460365-1> and Uribe says that Daniel Coronell has no license to conceal a crime
<http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/politica/articulo-uribe-asegura-daniel-coronell-no-tiene-licencia-ocultar-un-delito> ; Case of Publication of paramilitary infiltration in the Administrative Security Department DAS, President Alvaro Uribe was launched in strings against the media who made the complaint
<http://es.wikinews.org/wiki/Uribe_arremete_contra_medios_que_publicaron_denuncias_de_corrupci%C3%B3n_en_el_DAS> ; Uribe harshly criticized the last Human Rights Watch (HRW) report <http://www.canalrcn.com/noticias/index.php/nacional/duro-informe-de-hrw---el-gobierno-colombiano-dice-que-es-sesgado-/> and during the encounter with the indigenous he accused Jose Miguel Vivanco, director of HRW of being "accomplices of the FARC"
<http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/19508/uribe-arremete-contra-el-director-de-la-hrw/>
(2) Two recent cases are the influence of the sons of the President to be favored in a decision on a free zone in Bogota that made them millionaires. Case reported by Daniel Coronel in Semana magazine, <http://www.semana.com/noticias-opinion/sobrados-lote/122986.aspx> and last weekend the President noted that there are a host of lawyers who make false accusations to the public force "when referring to accusations by false positives made by the members of the military forces of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe added that these lawyers are paid by organizations, international institutions, ideological biases, which prevent them from considering the pairing of behaviors and impartial legal system ". <http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/justicia/desde-el-exterior-pagan-a-abogados-que-levantan-falsas-acusaciones-contra-ffmm-uribe_5170396-1>
(3) The Case of Senator Piedad Cordoba is an example of this assertion, for example Semana magazine (Nov. 13, 2007) criticized her work in peace negotiations and humanitarian agreement with FARC to appear in a photograph with members of the guerrilla organization at the time of the failed peace process in San Vicente del Caguan index impartially "
<http://semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=107698> , also in the newspaper Tiempo.com <http://www.eltiempo.com/participacion/blogs/default/un_articulo.php?id_blog=300001147&id_recurso=450012852> (This note also shows the intolerance of many citizens to publish their reviews) finally this same Senator was insulted by passengers on a commercial flight in which she was traveling
<http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/11474/intentan-agredir-a-piedad-cordoba-en-el-vuelo-bogota-caracas/>
see also a more general article on the topic: GALLON, Eduardo and ORJUELA, Astrid. Stigmatization of defenders: Risk for democracy. In: Hechos del Callejón (Alley Facts). UNDP, No. 41 November 2008. Page 15)
(4) On February 21 Semana magazine reported how the Administrative Department of Security, was intercepting the communications of members of various organizations opposing the government, journalists, judges of high courts and other
<http://www.semana.com/noticias-nacion/das-sigue-grabando/120991.aspx>
(5) Journalist Morris remains Unwanted Witness in Colombia. In:
<http://actualidad.terra.es/cultura/articulo/morris-colombia-periodista-seguira-siendo-2915449.htm>
(6) The DAS cause fear. Santiago daily newspaper El Pais of Cali, April 22, 2009
<http://www.elpais.com.co/historico/abr222009/NAL/nal7.html> The DAS is the State entity responsible for the intelligence services for foreign and national security of the nation and the constitutional regime. This organization depends on the President of the Republic
<http://www.das.gov.co/>
(7) "Holman Morris premiered Unwanted Witness in Film Festival in Toronto in: El espectador.com <http://www.elespectador.com/node/37299 Septiembre 10 de 2008>.
(8) Morris will continue to be a journalist "The unwanted witness" in Colombia in:
<http://actualidad.terra.es/cultura/articulo/morris-colombia-periodista-seguira-siendo-2915449.htm> Interview, Switzerland - Colombia, November 26, 2008
(9) Interview to Juan Lozano, in: <http://www.swissinfo.ch/spa/portada.html?siteSect=109&ty=st&sid=9983158&front=br>
(10) idem
(11) idem
By: Miguel Gonzalez/Seinforma Correspondent
Bogota.- A new version of the Toronto International Film Festival has just began and people still remember a third-world-award-winning documentary introduced during the 2008 edition: Unwanted Witness, from Colombia.
However, after collecting awards around the world during the past 12 months, the film hasn’t been broadcast in its native Colombia yet.
Under the current Colombian government, it is becoming almost impossible to disagree or criticize its policies and actions. Each time a member of the opposition, a journalist, a non-governmental organization (NGO) or other national or international groups such as indigenous minorities, labor unions or human rights defenders are targeted and stigmatized by the same government or its allies.
Those brave people are subject to investigations or actually using state security agencies used in an illegal manner; communications are intercepted, they spy privacy, they are branded as immoral and therefore forbidden to discuss or report various issues (1) that uneasy the government for its alleged involvement in corruption and violation of Human Rights (2) in the country and anything that questions the transparency in the implementation of "democratic security policy" and the unfulfilled promise of combat politicking.
This means the weakening of safeguards to exercise the opposition and to speak freely without fear of being threatened, judged, stigmatized or affected in their personal integrity; and there is a major risk for denouncing human rights violations committed by state agents or by inaction of the institutions responsible for ensuring the security and integrity of Colombian citizens, as is the rule of law stated in the Constitution of 1991.
Dangerous profession
Hence the exercise of the opposition to claim government arbitrariness tends to be a dangerous option for those who dare to do so; they also become a target of discrimination and public insult from government, armed groups, mass media and even the common citizen, which leads to isolation and social stigma (3).
In Colombia, mistrust to the same state is due, as demonstrated in the case of wiretapping and illegal research to journalists, members of the top courts of justice in Colombia, labor organizations and to opposition politicians (4).
Holman Morris is one of the distinguished journalists for its commitment to denouncing human rights violations that take place in Colombia daily. Despite threats against his personal integrity, he returned from exile because he believes that "as a journalist, it is our duty to give voice to victims, to report violators of human rights, be they guerrillas, military, drug traffickers or government forces." (5)
It is an activity that has included him among those pursued by the Department of Administrative Security (DAS), the Colombian intelligence agency (6), alongside other journalists as Carlos Lozano, Ramiro Bejarano, Daniel Coronel and others.
The documentary Unwanted Witness (Without a break) was introduced last year in the XXXIII edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, whose protagonist is the Colombian journalist Holman Morris. This film shows the situation of the victims of the fratricidal war in Colombia, waged between state forces, guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug traffickers, to expose "the barbarity that nobody wants to see", Morris says, "to show a conflict forgotten by the major powers at a time when there is a counter-media to say that Colombia is pure passion. "(7)
The journalist, who feared for his life even more when the film comes to his country, is firmly convinced that "to fight the barbarity we must tell it and show it." This is part of the revelation of the uncomfortable truth that many Colombians and the world does not want to understand regarding the conflict affecting the South American nation for over 4 decades, in which the losers are the more than 3 million people displaced because of war and half of its 40 million inhabitants living in poverty.
These are some of the reasons Morris is interested in not only for his personal situation but for his nation’s one. Hence his determination building the truth about the war in Colombia, not only with this film but also with the TV series Contravía (<http://www.contravia.tv/>).
Morris, an award-winning journalist for his work in defense of human rights, hopes that the film “will be a chance to see many other protagonists in the Colombian drama to help increase awareness to the viewers in different parts of the world," because, "there is too much talking on Ingrid Betancourt and the guerrillas only. And while recognizing that the barbarism of the abduction is hue, we must also remember that there are thousands of missing people in Colombia, which were quartered and killed, and it is a need to give visibility to these other dramas. "(8)
The revealing lens of Juan José Lozano
Unwanted Witness is a documentary produced by the also Colombian Juan Jose Lozano, which narrate four months of crossings of Morris, that “documents the attacks to Human Rights” (9) in his country. Through the lens he shows the tragedy of the indigenous, Afro-Colombian and peasant communities who are victims of the various actors of the Colombian armed conflict, unknown in many parts of the world or who have a distorted view due to the image built by the same actors who sell the war abroad.
All this barbarism led Lozano to show the invisible reality doing what he does, filming. "His heart and head are back in Colombia," he said about Morris, (10) “where the dehumanization and indifference, lifted by injustice and impunity made that Colombians become used to this unusual living situation as if it was completely normal. What you see when you are with the victims or the families of the victims ... You feel as if they were ashamed to go to report their case: that her husband was killed or disappeared. As if feeling shame, because they consider it normal ... "(11) says Lozano.
All this violence is the product of a corrupt state where it operates and where it doesn’t; in this last case, it is replaced by illegal people who are disputing local authorities, administering justice, handling politics, raising taxes, controlling the social and legal trade.
And in the midst of war the only victim is the civil society. Therefore the importance of journalists committed to the construction of truth and reporting various unjust, illegal and inhumane actions that the lords of war do, that is bleeding Colombia.
Truth is necessary for peace, through its knowledge reconciliation begins to be rebuilt and it is a necessary step to ensure no recurrence of these unfortunate incidents for humanity and the country itself. Such situations warrant and demand the existence of brave journalists like Morris, alongside many others, who risk their lives to show the true that Colombia is claiming.
* Miguel Gonzalez is a Profesional in Information Services and Knowledge Management, Master in Political Studies and Specialist in Market Management.
______________________________________________________
(1)Some cases that demonstrate this situation are: Yidis Medina video facing the Government with journalist Daniel Coronell <http://www.caracol.com.co/nota.aspx?id=581732> ; Request for investigation to Daniel Coronell made by Uribe in case of yidispolítica opens controversy.
<http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/justicia/2008-08-22/solicitud-de-investigacion-a-daniel-coronell-hecha-por-uribe-en-caso-de-yidispolitica-abre-polemica_4460365-1> and Uribe says that Daniel Coronell has no license to conceal a crime
<http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/politica/articulo-uribe-asegura-daniel-coronell-no-tiene-licencia-ocultar-un-delito> ; Case of Publication of paramilitary infiltration in the Administrative Security Department DAS, President Alvaro Uribe was launched in strings against the media who made the complaint
<http://es.wikinews.org/wiki/Uribe_arremete_contra_medios_que_publicaron_denuncias_de_corrupci%C3%B3n_en_el_DAS> ; Uribe harshly criticized the last Human Rights Watch (HRW) report <http://www.canalrcn.com/noticias/index.php/nacional/duro-informe-de-hrw---el-gobierno-colombiano-dice-que-es-sesgado-/> and during the encounter with the indigenous he accused Jose Miguel Vivanco, director of HRW of being "accomplices of the FARC"
<http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/19508/uribe-arremete-contra-el-director-de-la-hrw/>
(2) Two recent cases are the influence of the sons of the President to be favored in a decision on a free zone in Bogota that made them millionaires. Case reported by Daniel Coronel in Semana magazine, <http://www.semana.com/noticias-opinion/sobrados-lote/122986.aspx> and last weekend the President noted that there are a host of lawyers who make false accusations to the public force "when referring to accusations by false positives made by the members of the military forces of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe added that these lawyers are paid by organizations, international institutions, ideological biases, which prevent them from considering the pairing of behaviors and impartial legal system ". <http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/justicia/desde-el-exterior-pagan-a-abogados-que-levantan-falsas-acusaciones-contra-ffmm-uribe_5170396-1>
(3) The Case of Senator Piedad Cordoba is an example of this assertion, for example Semana magazine (Nov. 13, 2007) criticized her work in peace negotiations and humanitarian agreement with FARC to appear in a photograph with members of the guerrilla organization at the time of the failed peace process in San Vicente del Caguan index impartially "
<http://semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=107698> , also in the newspaper Tiempo.com <http://www.eltiempo.com/participacion/blogs/default/un_articulo.php?id_blog=300001147&id_recurso=450012852> (This note also shows the intolerance of many citizens to publish their reviews) finally this same Senator was insulted by passengers on a commercial flight in which she was traveling
<http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/11474/intentan-agredir-a-piedad-cordoba-en-el-vuelo-bogota-caracas/>
see also a more general article on the topic: GALLON, Eduardo and ORJUELA, Astrid. Stigmatization of defenders: Risk for democracy. In: Hechos del Callejón (Alley Facts). UNDP, No. 41 November 2008. Page 15)
(4) On February 21 Semana magazine reported how the Administrative Department of Security, was intercepting the communications of members of various organizations opposing the government, journalists, judges of high courts and other
<http://www.semana.com/noticias-nacion/das-sigue-grabando/120991.aspx>
(5) Journalist Morris remains Unwanted Witness in Colombia. In:
<http://actualidad.terra.es/cultura/articulo/morris-colombia-periodista-seguira-siendo-2915449.htm>
(6) The DAS cause fear. Santiago daily newspaper El Pais of Cali, April 22, 2009
<http://www.elpais.com.co/historico/abr222009/NAL/nal7.html> The DAS is the State entity responsible for the intelligence services for foreign and national security of the nation and the constitutional regime. This organization depends on the President of the Republic
<http://www.das.gov.co/>
(7) "Holman Morris premiered Unwanted Witness in Film Festival in Toronto in: El espectador.com <http://www.elespectador.com/node/37299 Septiembre 10 de 2008>.
(8) Morris will continue to be a journalist "The unwanted witness" in Colombia in:
<http://actualidad.terra.es/cultura/articulo/morris-colombia-periodista-seguira-siendo-2915449.htm> Interview, Switzerland - Colombia, November 26, 2008
(9) Interview to Juan Lozano, in: <http://www.swissinfo.ch/spa/portada.html?siteSect=109&ty=st&sid=9983158&front=br>
(10) idem
(11) idem
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Unwanted Documentary
of Colombian Reality
of Colombian Reality
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UNWANTED WITNESS: ANOTHER VICTIM OF CENSORSHIP IN COLOMBIA
Historical Frame of the Haitian Migrations
NO to US Military Bases in Colombia
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Some of the situations that generated the internal armed conflict in Peru during the 80’s and 90’s were the exclusion, the gap between rich and poor, and the State absence, conditions that opened the path to Sendero Luminoso’s terrorist response.
Some of the situations that generated the internal armed conflict in Peru during the 80’s and 90’s were the exclusion, the gap between rich and poor, and the State absence, conditions that opened the path to Sendero Luminoso’s terrorist response.