The Ethics and Discipline Tribunal of the Metropolitan Council of the Journalists' Association confirmed the ruling of the prosecutor and president of that body, Alfredo Taborga, and condemned former directors of “El Mercurio”, “La Segunda”, “Las Últimas Noticias”, and “La Tercera”, as well as one journalist, for ethical misconduct and failure to fulfill the duty “to provide the truth to the citizenry” in the publications those media outlets produced during the early years of the dictatorship regarding the kidnapping and disappearance of 119 political prisoners in the setup known as Operation Colombo.

The prosecutor and the tribunal resolved the matter in favor of the Collective of Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared of Operation Colombo, which in November 2005 filed a complaint with the Association against the former directors of “El Mercurio”, René Silva Espejo; “La Segunda”, Mario Carneyro; “Las Últimas Noticias”, Fernando Díaz Palma; and “La Tercera”, Alberto Guerrero Espinoza, as well as journalists Mercedes Garrido Garrido and Beatriz Undurraga Gómez, who are still active in the profession.

In their complaint, the Collective, represented by Cecilia Radrigán Plaza and Roberto D’Orival Briceño, relatives of two individuals who were forcibly disappeared in Operation Colombo, requested that the Association provide “reparation for a profound harm and restitution to our relatives and friends so vilely discredited in the historical memory of the country.”

Through this operation, the military regime attempted to make the Chilean and international public believe that the relatives' reports of disappearances were false. Through Operation Colombo, some charred corpses were made to appear in Buenos Aires, identified as Chilean leftist militants, with a sign that read “for being a traitor.” The dictatorship’s version, picked up by the media—which added insulting headlines—was that the alleged disappeared were killing each other in Argentina or dying in confrontations.

The setup included two publications of brief and limited circulation in Argentina and Brazil, which provided a list of 119 people who were reported as disappeared in Chile and who had supposedly died in Argentina in settling of scores or confrontations.

In the case of Díaz Palma and Guerrero Espinoza, they were sanctioned with “a public censure and suspension of their status as members of the Journalists' Association for six months due to their performance in the investigated events.” Regarding Díaz Palma, the ruling states that “his attitude is even more condemnable if one considers that at that time he also held the presidency of the Journalists' Association.”

Accountability Silva Espejo and Carneyro were declared “not liable” because they are deceased, although they were still found responsible because “they did not fulfill their obligation to confront the facts underlying the news with a source other than the official one, thereby failing to deliver the truth that the citizenry had the right to receive.” These charges were also brought against Díaz Palma and Guerrero Espinoza.

Regarding Carneyro, of “La Segunda”, the resolution considers the aggravating factor of the “use of offensive and sensationalist headlines, tending not to highlight information, but to manipulate it tendentiously.” This fact refers to the front-page headline of “La Segunda” on July 24, 1975: “Exterminated like rats. 59 Chilean MIR members fall in military operation in Argentina.”

Journalist Mercedes Garrido Garrido, accused by the complainants of having been an editor for “La Segunda” at that time, was acquitted, “given that the accusations against her were not proven.” Beatriz Undurraga was sanctioned with “public censure and suspension of her status as a member of the Journalists' Association of Chile for three months,” due to the existence of “presumptions of a questionable professional and personal attitude in this case, and given that she did not appear to testify despite having been summoned on two occasions (...) thereby infringing Article 13 of the regulations for the instruction of summary proceedings of the Journalists' Association.”

Those sanctioned were accused of violating various provisions of the Code of Journalistic Ethics in force at that time; among these are the following norms: “Journalism and journalists must be at the service of the truth,” “the journalist shall not accept pressure from their employers to fail to tell the truth,” “participation in the violation of human rights and premeditated disinformation are extreme violations of professional ethics,” and “unjustified attacks on the dignity, honor, or prestige of persons, institutions, or groups.” The affected parties are being notified of this resolution.

They will then have five days to appeal to the same tribunal.

Admitting Culpable Conduct

The ruling also maintains that “according to the investigation, it is also evident that the Journalists' Association of Chile (at the time) did not fulfill its duty to protect correct professional performance and to be a benchmark in the defense of ethical values in the exercise of healthy journalism for society, nor did it defend the requirements of society to be correctly informed, nor did it denounce the responsibility held by the press and the journalists who were complicit in this situation.”

“In this sense, journalists, not only from the media outlets involved in this summary proceeding but the vast majority of those operating in the country at that date—with the exception of a few publications and radio stations that were trying to survive—and the Journalists' Association of Chile, must face their culpable conduct in this case and act before society by publicly assuming their responsibility,” the ruling states.

Source: LA NACIÓN, May 7, 2012