Friday 09 January
2009, San José, Costa
Rica
COLOMBIA:
Conditions in Place for
New Hostage Release
By Constanza Vieira*
BOGOTA, Jan 8 (IPS) -
Nearly three weeks after
the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC)
announced that they
would release six
hostages, the government
of right-wing President
Álvaro Uribe has agreed
to provide security
guarantees for the
operation, which is
expected to take place
this month.
"The national government
reiterates its
confidence in the
International Committee
of the Red Cross (to
facilitate the
operation), and will
continue providing all
necessary guarantees for
the release of hostages
announced by the FARC,"
said a statement issued
Wednesday.
The government also
authorised opposition
Senator Piedad Córdoba
to form part of the
mission.
In response to a
September open letter
backed by 25,000
signatures and addressed
to the FARC by Córdoba
and 150 intellectuals
and journalists, calling
for a public dialogue
and asking the rebels if
they would abandon the
practice of kidnapping,
the insurgent group
announced Dec. 21 that
it would unilaterally
release six civilian and
military and police
hostages.
The senator described a
meeting Wednesday with
the government’s High
Commissioner for Peace
Luis Carlos Restrepo as
"very positive."
"Piedad framed the
situation as the start
of a long process that
could be the first step
towards the construction
of an eventual peace
process" in Colombia’s
nearly five-decade civil
war, said Alpher Rojas,
the director of the
Institute for
Sociopolitical Studies
and Research (INESTCO),
who helped organise the
open letter and
signature campaign,
known as the Diálogo
Público Epistolar
(Epistolary Public
Dialogue).
"That opened the door
for them to say ‘yes’ to
everything she proposed"
in the meeting with
Restrepo, the analyst
told IPS.
On Tuesday, Uribe called
the efforts being made
through the Diálogo
Público Epistolar "a new
ruse," and reiterated
his staunch opposition
to the possibility of an
exchange of hostages
held by the FARC for
imprisoned guerrillas.
Rojas said the
government position
shifted because "it
finally understood that
the indecision regarding
this case could not
continue."
In a letter dated Dec.
30 and published
Wednesday, the FARC
stated that the hostages
would be handed over to
Senator Córdoba and one
or more of the public
figures who signed the
open letter to launch
the public dialogue,
which has now become a
movement named
"Colombians for Peace".
The condition outlined
by the guerrillas in
their letter, that "some
democratic personality
from a brother country
or the international
community" must monitor
the hostage release
operation, is not an
obstacle, said Rojas.
Although the
participation of an
international figure
"has not completely been
ruled out, it is no
longer a point of
contention between the
two sides," he said.
In the week or so since
the FARC produced its
letter, "other things
have helped ensure that
it won’t be a hurdle,"
he added, declining to
provide further details.
"In negotiations on
guarantees (for a
hostage release), it is
not possible to set
forth just one single
proposal," said Rojas.
"After other points of
view were accepted,
other alternatives
emerged on the menu of
options for monitors and
guarantees. No one
proposed just one single
option."
The Red Cross said it
was pleased that it had
been entrusted with the
design and logistics of
the hostage release
operation.
But Córdoba told
Restrepo that once she
is given the coordinates
for the location where
the hostages are to be
delivered, she will only
communicate them to the
pilot once they are "in
the air," on the way to
the secret spot in the
jungle.
According to the FARC,
the hostages to be
released are civilians
Alan Jara and Sigifredo
López and four members
of the police and
military whose names
were not given.
Jara, a former governor
of the central
department (province) of
Meta, was kidnapped by
the FARC on Jul. 15,
2001, when he was seized
at gunpoint from a
United Nations vehicle
during a U.N. mission.
López is the only
survivor of a group of
12 regional lawmakers
seized by the FARC from
the regional legislature
in the western
department of Valle del
Cauca on Apr. 11, 2002.
The other 11 were killed
in unclarified
circumstances during a
shootout on Jun. 18,
2007, as they were being
transferred by boat by
the FARC. (López was not
with them).
Jara and López are the
only civilian hostages
still held by the
guerrillas, who
kidnapped them and the
others with the aim of
negotiating a
humanitarian swap of
hostages for imprisoned
insurgents.
After the six are
released, the rebels
will still hold 22
members of the military
and police.
The number of guerrillas
in prison is unknown,
because the authorities
often seize peasant
farmers who live in
rural areas under FARC
control and jail them as
insurgents.
FARC commander Alfonso
Cano said in an
interview with the
Spanish magazine Cambio
16, which was published
Wednesday on the rebel
group’s web site, that a
hostage-prisoner swap
would help create an
atmosphere that could
"pave the way for a
peace agreement."
The guerrillas said the
hostages would be
released in two groups,
starting with three
low-ranking police
officers and one
rank-and-file soldier.
According to a list
released by the FARC on
Aug. 21, the only
hostages fitting that
description are soldier
William Domínguez and
policemen Juan Fernando
Galicio, José Walter
Lozano and Alexis
Torres.
With respect to the
three police officers,
the FARC commented at
the time that "the
government has not
informed the public (of
their kidnapping) and
has made no demand for
their release, because
as poor men, they are of
little propaganda value
for the government."
Fifteen hostages were
rescued in a stunning
bloodless Jul. 2
military intelligence
operation. The hostages
included former
presidential candidate
Ingrid Betancourt and
three U.S. defence
contractors captured
while working for the
U.S.-financed
counterinsurgency and
anti-drug Plan Colombia.
The rescue operation
drew criticism because
one of the members of
the military
intelligence team used
the Red Cross symbol,
while the helicopters
carried a fictitious
logo with the words
"International
Humanitarian Mission" as
well as the "no weapons"
symbol -- an automatic
rifle in a red circle
with a bar through the
middle -- used by all
such missions.
The team successfully
posed as an
international
humanitarian mission,
inspired by earlier
unilateral release
operations negotiated by
Córdoba and Venezuelan
President Hugo Chávez in
early 2008.
Because of that, the
FARC said in their
letter dated Dec. 30
that Red Cross
participation in the
hostage release is "a
good but insufficient
guarantee."
The guerrillas did not
insist on the
involvement of foreign
governments, which has
been vehemently opposed
by Uribe since the
diplomatic row with
Venezuela triggered by
the Colombian
president’s abrupt
decision to cut off
Chávez and Córdoba’s
role in negotiating a
prisoner-hostage
exchange.
The FARC also kidnap
wealthy people for
ransom, as a source of
financing.
In response to the
September open letter by
"Colombians for Peace",
the rebel group said
"the indefinite use of
these methods does not
form part of our ideals
or principles."
For the first time,
massive street
demonstrations against
kidnapping were held in
Colombian cities last
year, which disconcerted
the guerrillas,
according to hostages
released in early 2008.
The non-governmental
organisation País Libre,
which bases its
estimates on Defence
Ministry statistics,
found that the FARC
guerrillas were
responsible for nearly
30 percent of
kidnappings in Colombia,
one of the world leaders
in that practice.
From 1996 to June 2008,
a total of 15,331 people
were kidnapped for
ransom in Colombia,
according to País Libre.
*Constanza Vieira is one
of the signatories of
the Diálogo Público
Epistolar letter.
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