The Journalist Protection Programme of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice
This programme was created with decree number 1592 of 2000. It functions through the Committee of Regulation and Risk Evaluation, (CRER - Comité de Reglamentación y Evaluación de Riesgos, in Spanish) where DAS and the National Police are in charge of risk evaluation and FLIP is responsible for the professional study of each case in order to determine whether the risks are due to the journalistic capacity of the person in question. FLIP is not a government organisation and does not assume the obligations of the state nor receive official compensation. FLIP does not act as the legal agent of the journalists in question before the committee, but is simply an observer within the committee in order to guarantee that the measures suggested are acted upon.
The CRER is made up of various state entities. As a whole the committee decides which protection measures are to be taken. The measures are divided into soft and hard:
Soft: Bullet-proof vest, communication apparatus (Avantel – used to stay in contact with the authorities), self protection training.
Hard: Police rounds, assignment of escorts, national relocation; within the country, away from the risk area, international relocation; exile, humanitarian aids – conditional upon leaving the region – aimed at protecting the journalist and not resolving economic problems (maximum of three humanitarian aids).
Unofficial measures: In situations in which the risk is imminent, the committee is able to act rapidly and solicit unofficial measures that will later be presented before the entire committee.
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