15 July 2003
U.N. Appeals to Colombian Rebel Groups to Release Kidnapped Prisoners
Secretary General Annan urges end to "inhuman practice" of kidnapping
By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has issued an urgent appeal to rebel groups in Colombia to release all kidnapped prisoners being held in that country, saying kidnapping is a "gross violation of human rights and international humanitarian law that has inflicted terrible suffering on the Colombian people."
In a July 14 statement, Annan said the day marked the second anniversary of the abduction of a former state governor in Colombia by armed individuals who identified themselves as belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The FARC seized Alan Jara, former Governor of the Department of Meta, while he was riding in an official U.N. vehicle with the world body's resident coordinator, in connection with an important local development project.
"The FARC is responsible for Mr. Jara's physical well-being and should provide proof that he is alive to his family, which has wrongly suffered his forced absence," said Annan.
The Secretary General said he "urgently appeals to the FARC and others to release all those kidnapped and to stop this inhuman practice."
The U.S. State Department has identified the left-wing FARC as one of three Colombian groups engaged in terrorist activities. The others are another left-wing group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), and a right-wing group, the paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).
The State Department said in its "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report for 2002 that payments and extortion fees demanded by the primary perpetrators of kidnapping -- the FARC and the ELN -- continue to hobble the Colombian economy and limit investor confidence. Since 1980, the FARC has murdered at least 10 U.S. citizens.
In its June 16 warning against travel to Colombia, the State Department said the citizens of the United States and other countries continue to be victims of threats, kidnappings, domestic airline hijackings, and murders. The State Department said about 3,000 kidnapping incidents were reported throughout Colombia in 2002 and that there is a greater risk of being kidnapped in Colombia than in any other country in the world.
In the past three years, 26 Americans were reported kidnapped in various parts of Colombia, the State Department said, adding that "no one can be considered immune on the basis of occupation, nationality, or any other factor."
Bush Administration officials say the three outlaw groups in Colombia, although not considered terrorist organizations with global reach, threaten regional stability and U.S. interests through transnational arms and drug trafficking, kidnapping, and extortion, and are responsible for 90 percent of the terrorist incidents in the Western Hemisphere.
President Bush has praised Colombian President Alvaro Uribe for his determination to fight terrorism and drug trafficking. Bush said the United States would continue standing as a "strong friend and supporter" of the Colombian people "as they take on difficult tasks."
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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