Hostages Rescued in Colombia; Colombian Government Offers the FARC a “Dignified Peace”

NEW YORK (July 2, 2008) -- The Colombian government announced today the release of several hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC). The FARC is responsible for numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Among those freed, is the FARC’s’s most famous hostage: former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. The governments of numerous European nations, including France, had been unsuccessfully trying to obtain the liberation of Ms. Betancourt for the past six years.

Three American citizens, who had been held in captivity since 2003, were also rescued: Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell, and Marc Gonsalves.

According to the Colombian government, the hostages were rescued after a government agent infiltrated FARC guerillas. The agent was able to facilitate the use of a helicopter to transfer the hostages from one location to another. The helicopter belonged to the Colombian government. According to the government, no one, including FARC guerillas, was injured in the commando operation.

“The FARC has been locked into an armed conflict with the government of Colombia for decades. Between the FARC, the paramilitary forces, and the Colombian government, the civilian population has experienced untold suffering,” said Thor Halvorssen, president of the Human Rights Foundation (HRF).

HRF urges all parties to enter into negotiations. HRF hopes the FARC leadership will accept the offer made by the government of Colombia today, for a demobilization effort that the Colombian defense minister calls a “dignified peace.”

The FARC routinely kidnaps civilians for ransom, political gain, and for use as human shields. Hostages such as those released today are caged and held in animal-like captivity for years. Beyond systematic atrocities against civilians such as torture, assassination, and “disappearances,” the FARC uses children who are 14 years old and younger, as soldiers in their army and are known to test the loyalty of child soldiers by forcing them to torture or kill other children. Children who desert the FARC army and are apprehended are executed. In the last year, the FARC has lost its two senior military commanders. One was killed in a rebel camp in Ecuador and the other died of health complications.

HRF is an international nonpartisan organization devoted to defending human rights in the American hemisphere. It centers its work on the twin concepts of freedom of self-determination and freedom from tyranny. These ideals include the belief that all human beings have the rights to speak freely, to associate with those of like mind, and to leave and enter their countries. Individuals in a free society must be accorded equal treatment and due process under law, and must have the opportunity to participate in the governments of their countries; HRF’s ideals likewise find expression in the conviction that all human beings have the right to be free from arbitrary detainment or exile and from interference and coercion in matters of conscience. HRF’s International Council includes former prisoners of conscience Vladimir Bukovsky, Palden Gyatso, Armando Valladares, Ramón J. Velásquez, Elie Wiesel, and Harry Wu.

Contact: Thor Halvorssen, Human Rights Foundation, (212) 246.8486, info@thehrf.org