COLOMBIA:
Hostages’ Release, Seen
from the Other Side
By Constanza Vieira
BOGOTA, Jan 11 (IPS) -
While the international
spotlight was shined on
two women hostages
released by Colombia’s
FARC guerrillas, IPS
interviewed by telephone
a woman who reflects the
other side of the
hostage crisis.
These are the invisible
women thrown into prison
on charges of
"rebellion", many of
them merely because they
live in rebel-controlled
areas. A significant
proportion of them are
civilians who are
eventually acquitted and
released -- but not
before they spend up to
four years in jail.
Unlike the cases of
former politicians Clara
Rojas and Consuelo
González, who were freed
Thursday by the FARC
(Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia) amid
great fanfare, these
women’s stories are
seldom if ever told.
In the El Buen Pastor
women’s prison in Bogotá
there are 63 prisoners
serving time for
"rebellion", but only 25
or 30 of them actually
belong to the FARC, a
peasant insurgency that
rose up in arms in 1964.
"There are many people
who are arrested for
‘rebellion’, but who
have no real ties to the
movement. They are
treated as criminals
because they live in an
area under guerrilla
influence, and everyone
there is seen as a FARC
collaborator," said E.,
a woman under 30 who is
doing time in El Buen
Pastor.
(The FARC control an
estimated 40 percent of
the national territory,
mainly in rural,
sparsely populated
areas.)
E. asked IPS not to
publish her personal
details, because she
preferred to speak "in
the name of several of
us." The interview took
place simultaneously
with the release of
Rojas and González.
"There are thousands of
‘Emmanuels’ in
Colombia," said E,
referring to the son
Rojas gave birth to in
captivity in the jungle,
who was separated from
his mother when he was
around eight months old.
The children of the
inmates of El Buen
Pastor can live with
their mothers until they
turn three, when they
are turned over to other
family members or to the
Colombian Family Welfare
Institute (ICBF) -- the
institution that took
Emmanuel into custody
when he was found to
have serious health
problems.
IPS: How do you see this
hostage release, from
prison?
E: Obviously what is
happening makes us
really happy, because
these two women are
returning to their
families. But they are
only two people in a
conflict in which many
people are suffering.
People’s hearts need to
open up, so that the two
sides sit down, in
whatever conditions are
established, to reach
the goal of a
humanitarian exchange
(of FARC hostages for
imprisoned guerrillas).
And also, what is really
being sought is to reach
the possibility of a
solution to Colombia’s
social and armed
conflict. Many of us are
here because we believe
in a different country,
and that certain
sacrifices have to be
made. We are convinced
that there will be a new
Colombia, and that we
will be able to live in
a country with social
justice.
IPS: The hostage release
was a unilateral gesture
by the FARC. Is it a
step forward, towards
negotiations?
E: It's a window of
opportunity for a
humanitarian swap to
begin to be arranged, a
gesture that shows that
it is possible to reach
an agreement between the
two sides. As political
prisoners, what we hope
for is that humanitarian
considerations take
precedence in the
conflict.
It is also a sign that
there is willingness and
interest on the part of
the FARC. But it is the
conditions in the armed
conflict that are
keeping things from
being done the way they
should be.
What we in prison are
saying is the same thing
expressed by the FARC
leadership: a (demilitarised)
safe haven is needed,
both for the safety of
the hostages to be
released and of the
people who will be
negotiating.
IPS: Do the FARC inmates
in your prison have
children?
E: They are all mothers,
except for three or
four. In total, they
number around 30.
IPS: How many are living
with their mothers in
the prison?
E: There are about 30 or
40 kids in this prison.
In this wing (of women
imprisoned for
war-related crimes),
there are six. Most of
them are the children of
women serving time for
"rebellion". They are
babies and toddlers up
to the age of three.
When they turn three,
they are separated from
their mothers. And if
there is no one to take
them in, they go to the
ICBF.
IPS: Can they still see
their mothers?
E: The ICBF has an
agreement with the
prison, so that the kids
can be brought once a
month to visit their
mothers. There are
thousands of "Emmanuels"
in Colombia. One of
them, fortunately, will
see his mother again.
There are thousands of
others who can't.
IPS: International
humanitarian law (IHL)
distinguishes between
civilians and
combatants.
Hostage-taking is
prohibited by IHL, while
exchanges of combatants
have occurred since war
was first invented. A
civilian is not the same
thing as someone who has
actively committed
themself to war.
E: That’s true. But
look: here in El Buen
Pastor, most of the
women are civilians who
live in
guerrilla-controlled
areas, and who after
spending two years in
jail are simply told:
"go home."
Of 100 women, at least
50 have nothing to do
with (the war). Last
week, three women were
released after spending
a year and a half in
jail. They were told "go
home, what a pity, we
made a mistake." Others
are sentenced for 40 to
60 years. There are
people here who have
accumulated sentences in
several cases.
The rest are teachers,
trade unionists,
"community mothers"
(women who run
government child care
centres in their homes),
or small farmers, who
have to spend at least a
year and a half here, no
matter how well things
go for them in court.
Very few actually end up
being convicted. The
prosecutions drag on for
up to four years. Last
year, two women who were
released had spent four
years behind bars, and
were acquitted in the
end. |
