THE WEEKEND announcement by Colombia’s biggest guerrilla organisation that it will stop kidnapping civilians for ransom brings to an end one of the most traumatic episodes in the country’s decades-long civil war.
Colombia is one of the kidnap capitals of the world with the better-off living in fear that they will be seized and held in grim jungle prisons – often for years – until relatives pay a ransom.
Video footage of gaunt hostages pleading for their release helped keep the issue near the top of the political agenda.
Now, in a statement published on its website, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) said “we are halting the practice in our revolutionary activity”.
But the decision is unlikely to end the country’s kidnap culture or signal any immediate moves to end the war, analysts warn.
Though the guerrillas said they would also release their last remaining “prisoners of war” – 10 security force members held for up to 14 years – Sunday’s tactical switch only referred to holding civilians.
“The Farc does not consider security force members caught in combat as being kidnapped. These are considered prisoners of war and the statement does not rule out taking more in the future, despite the move to release the remaining 10 policemen and soldiers it holds in captivity,” says Luis Eduardo Celis, of Nuevo Arco Iris, a think-tank that monitors violence in the country.
The government considers all those held by the Farc, even soldiers and policemen taken prisoner, as kidnap victims and has made an end to kidnapping by the guerrillas being a key condition for negotiations. And while the Farc has signalled an end to kidnapping civilians, the government is unlikely to offer talks while the guerrillas refuse to meet the other key demand of President Juan Manuel Santos before any negotiations take place, namely that it halt military operations.
"The government feels in a position of strength. With US military aid, it has pushed the Farc back and the economy is booming as foreign investment pours into oil and mining in zones cleared of any Farc presence," notes Garry Leech, author of The FARC: The Longest Insurgency.
But though the onus remains on the Farc to meet the government demands, Mr Leech says the organisation remains a significant military force, despite the Colombian military’s offensive. In the last three or four years the Farc has increased the number of attacks on the government, showing itself capable of responding to the new security environment while replacing leaders killed by the military with committed idealogues who have years of experience fighting in the jungle.
The abandonment of kidnapping for ransom is the first major Farc announcement since Timoleón Jiménez, known as Timochenko, assumed command of the organisation in November following the killing of his predecessor. It allows the Farc to end one of its most unpopular policies without significantly impacting its finances, much of which comes from Colombia’s cocaine trade.
“The Farc lost a lot of respect in society because of its kidnap policy. In the last 20 years it was anger at kidnapping that did the most to mobilise Colombian civil society against the organisation,” says Mr Celis.
The move will also free up resources as the Farc seeks to respond to the near-decade long offensive by the Colombian military.
“It is becoming very difficult for the Farc to detain these prisoners safely without rescue attempts. Guarding and feeding them ties up a lot of guerrillas and logistical networks,” says Mr Leech. “It makes more sense from the Farc’s military perspective to actually release these prisoners and free up guerrillas and logistical networks for military operations.”
Though Sunday’s move signals an end to kidnapping as a tactic in the country’s civil war, it does not mean an end to kidnapping in Colombia. According to antikidnapping organisation Pais Libre there are 500 people currently being held for ransom.
“Less than half of these are being held by guerrillas. Between them, the Farc and the ELN (a smaller guerrilla force) only hold a third of the total. The majority are held by criminals,” says Mr Celis.
