Impunity Watch: South America

FARC Hostages Will Not Be Released

By Christopher Gehrke
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia - The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) said Monday they would not be able to release the three hostages as planned because of the Colombian government’s failure to guarantee their safety.

“Intense military operations in the zone make it impossible now” to release the three hostages, FARC rebels said in a letter read by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who had been overseeing the mission.

“To continue under these conditions would endanger the lives of the people to be released, the other prisoners of war and the guerrillas carrying out this mission,” the statement said.

Helicopters had been standing by since Friday to pick up Clara Rojas, her captive-born son Emmanuel, and former congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe denied the reports and said that his government had agreed to demilitarize a corridor for the mission.

“We were asked to establish a strategic corridor.  We accept this,” Uribe said.  “What has the attitude of the FARC been?  One of lies, and cheating.”

Uribe suggested that the guerillas were backing out of the deal because they did not have Emmanuel, the 3 year old hostage.

“The FARC terrorist group doesn’t have any excuse.  They’ve fooled Colombia and now they want to fool the international community,” he said.

Uribe said there is a 3-year old child named Juan David Gomez, matching the description provided by the escaped hostages of Emmanuel, who is suffering from malnutrition, malaria, and leishmaniasis in Bogota.  This child may have been living in Bogota at a foster home for the past two and a half years.

The child was turned over in San Jose del Guaviare in 2005 by a man authorities believe was his father.  Uribe said that DNA tests using the boy’s grandmother were required to prove his hypothesis.

Chavez accused Uribe of attempting to “dynamite the hostage rescue mission with a smoke screen,” but added, “Hopefully the hypothesis of Uribe is correct.  The FARC would look very bad to the entire world in light of such a lie.”

For more information, please see:
CNN (AP) – FARC hostage deal falls through –31 December 2007

ABC News (AFP) – Hostage deal impossible for now: FARC – 31 December 2007

AFP – Colombian hostage release stalls indefinitely – 31 December 2007

Colombian Hostage Rescue Delayed

Photo - CNN/AFP/Getty

The rescue of three hostages failed to take place Saturday, but officials retain high hopes for their release today, reports CNN.

Two Venezuelan helicopters waited in Villavicencio yesterday for the rebels to give coordinates for the location of the freed hostages, but Villavicencio airport closed before the information arrived.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who organized the operation, said last night that he hoped for the hostages to be collected by today or Monday.  An international delegation of Latin American diplomats and politicians, as well as U.S. film director Oliver Stone, arrived Saturday night to oversee the hostages’ release.

The hostages to be released are Clara Rojas, a campaign manager for Ingrid Betancourt, her son Emmanuel, and Consuelo Gonzalez, a former Colombian congresswoman.

For more information, please see:
CNN - Mission to pick up hostages in Colombia delayed -  29 December 2007

BRIEF: Argentine Woman Kidnapped in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia – An Argentine nurse and a doctor from Spain were kidnapped in Puntland, Somalia while they were working for Doctors Without Borders, an international aid group.  Security forces from Somali are investigating a trail of gunman since Thursday. 

The gunmen were surrounded by security forces who are pushing for them to release the aid workers, but the gunman have not surrendered.  Last week, a French journalist was freed after been held captive in the same region.  The journalist was held for a week and the abductors asked for a ransom of $70,000.  Puntland is an area known for staging human traffickers into Yemen.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Somali troops hung for kidnappers – 27 December 2007

Associated Press – Somali authorities trail gunmen who kidnapped aid workers – 27 December 2007

UPDATES: Pinochet Trials and Colombia Hostage Release

By Christopher Gehrke
Impunity Watch South America, Senior Desk Officer
Photo - CNN 

Pinochet Trials
SANTIAGO, Chile – Fifteen agents of former dictator Augusto Pinochet were sentenced to prison Friday for the revenge killings of three dissidents.  Their terms range from five to 18 years.

The killings occurred after an unsuccessful attempt on Pinochet’s life in 1986.  The attack occurred in the Andes foothills outside Santiago.  Pinochet survived, but five bodyguards were killed and 11 were wounded.

Alvaro Corbalan, an ex-operative chief of Pinochet’s security service (the National Information Central), received the highest sentence.  Most of the others sentenced, including Corbalan, are already serving prison sentences for other rights violations. 

Fifteen security agents killed journalist Jose Carrasco and two other dissidents at their homes the night of September 7, 1986.

One, former police captain Ivan Quiroz, is still at large, having fled after being sentenced in another human rights case.

Pinochet died last December at age 91.

For more information, please see:
CNN (AP) – Ex-Pinochet agents sentenced in revenge killings – 28 December 2007

Fox News (AP) – 15 Pinochet-Era Agents Sentenced to Prison in Chile – 28 December 2007

Colombian Hostage Rescue
 Photo - Reuters

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday he was dispatching two helicopters into Colombia to retrieve three hostages from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Chavez is calling the mission “Operation Emmanuel,” after the three-year old son of Clara Rojas, who are both to be freed by FARC.

Venezuela will send two Russian MI-17 helicopters into Colombia to pick up the hostages.

“The logistics are prepared,” Chavez said.  “Let’s be patient and ask God to help us and have faith that everything is going to turn out well.”

For more information, please see:
CNN (AP) – Chavez sending copters for Colombian hostages – 28 December 2007

Reuters – Chavez to begin Colombia hostage rescue – 28 December 2007

Euronews – Chavez rescue operation ready for takeoff – 28 December 2007

FARC Hostages Could be Released Within Hours, but Betancourt Remains Captive

By Christopher Gehrke
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia – Venezuelan President said today that three hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) could be freed within hours.

The hostages – Clara Rojas, a campaign worker for Sen. Ingrid Betancourt, her son Emmanuel, and Consuelo Gonzalez, a former Congressmen – could be freed soon.

Personnel, airplanes, and helicopters are ready to reclaim the hostages whenever the order is given, according to Chavez.  CNN confirmed that Colombia and Venezuela have agreed to Chavez’s proposal.

In addition, the release process “has been agreed to the tiniest detail with the FARC commanders,” said Chavez.

Chavez stood in front of a map of Venezuela and Colombia and pointed to different airports on the Venezuelan side of the frontier where the freed hostages could arrive.  He said he considered and rejected a clandestine operation, according to CNN.

CNN has reported that although there may be a number of “sticking points,” the hostages could be home by tomorrow.

Chavez added that he hoped that all the other hostages, including Ingrid Betancourt, would be released.  Betancourt is perhaps FARC’s most famous prisoner.   Nine years ago a senator and presidential candidate, Betancourt, a citizen of both Colombia and France, was seen in a recent proof-of-life video as “ashen-faced” and “spindly armed,” according to CNN.

France has been campaigning for her release, as well as presidents across Latin America.  She has tried at least five times to escape, and she is often chained by her neck for varying stretches of time, according to an escaped hostage.  A letter to her mother shows her frustration –

“I’m physically unwell.  I haven’t resumed eating.  My appetite is gone.  My hair is falling out,” she wrote.  “Life here is no life, it’s a dismal waste of time…Here we are the living dead.”

Betancourt was known as a fighter, and especially known for trying to combat the influence of drug money in Colombian politics.  Nine years of captivity, however, seem to have sapped some of her spirit.

“I’ve been thinking that as long as I’m alive, as long as I continue breathing, I have to keep storing hope,” she wrote in her letter to her mother.

“No longer do I have the same strength.”

For more information, please see:
CNN – FARC captives may be free in hours – 26 December 2007

Al-jazeera News – Chavez ‘agrees FARC hostage plan’ – 26 December 2007

China View (Xinhua) – FARC hostage relatives await their release – 26 December 2007

CNN (AP) – Famous Colombian hostage struggles to keep hope – 25 December 2007

Rebels and Troops Clash in Colombia, 6 Dead

BOGOTA, Colombia – Colombian troops and rebel guerrillas clashed yesterday, resulting in the death of five rebels and one soldier.  Three soldiers were injured, as well.

The shootout between the government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) occurred in Santa Rosa del Sur in Northern Colombia.  Only one of the rebel’s bodies was found, though Gen. Ricardo Vargas confirmed that five were killed.

The National Liberation Army was founded in 1964 as a Marxist insurgent group.  With only 3,500 to 5,000 guerrillas, it is smaller than the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

The Colombian police arrested ELN’s second in command, Nestor Alcides Gomez Pamplona, in a separate incident Saturday.

For more information, please see:
Mathaba News Agency - 6 killed in gov't rebel clashes in Colombia - 24 December 2007
Hindustan Times - Six killed as troops clash with rebels in Colombia - 24 December 2007

BRIEF – Brazil’s Government Displeased with Menezes’s Outcome

In 2005 Brazilian electrician, Jean Charles de Menezes, was shot seven times and killed by police when they mistook him for a terrorist following the bombs in London.  An independent police watchdog, IPCC, has cleared all 15 officers involved and they will face no further action. 

Brazil’s government stated that it was unhappy with the decision against disciplining the officers involved.  The government and Menezes’s family stated that it was too early for the IPCC to make such a decision as an inquest can still produce vital evidence about the involvement of the officers. 

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Brazil unhappy at Menezes ruling – 23 December 2007

BRIEF: Chavez Will Arrange Hostage Release

HAVANA, Cuba - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez confirmed Saturday that he will arrange for the release of three hostages held by Colombian rebels after he returns to Venezuela from Cuba.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) said it would release Clara Rojas, her young son Emmanuel, and lawmaker Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo.  There has not been a firm time set for the release of these hostages.

The FARC have said that the release of the hostages is a gesture of goodwill towards the hostages’ relatives, Chavez, and Opposition Senator Piedad Cordoba.  FARC has accused President Alvaro Uribe of preventing a hostage swap.

Chavez had been removed from negotiations by Uribe for breaking protocol, but FARC has said that it will turn the three hostages over to Chavez, who called arranging the handover sensitive.

“It is a delicate operation,” Chavez said.

For more information, please see:

AFP - Chavez says he will arrange release of Colombian hostages - 22 December 2007

CNN - Chavez says he'll oversee release of 3 held by Colombian rebels - 22 December 2007

BRIEF: Fujimori Apologies for Murders

LIMA, Peru - Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori apologized today for two massacres performed by death squads.  He is currently on trial for these deaths, and faces up to 30 years in prison.

Fujimori is accused of ordering the death squad murders of 15 people in a Lima neighborhood in 1991 and the killings of nine students and a professor at La Cantuta University in 1992. 

The former president denies authorizing the killings, and extended his “deep regrets” to the victims of the government forces and of the rebel groups.

Relatives of the victims said the apology was too late. 

“He had more than 15 years to ask the relatives’ forgiveness… but he didn’t do it,” said Gisela Ortiz, whose brother was killed.

For more information, please see:
BBC News – Fujimori ‘regrets’ rights abuses - 22 December 2007

CNN (AP) – Fujimori apologizes for human rights abuses – 22 December 2007

Bishop’s Hunger Strike Ends Over Health Concerns

By Jennifer Pautz
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SAO PAULO, Brazil – A Roman Catholic Bishop in Brazil ended his hunger strike on Thursday after 24 days of fasting.  He began the strike to protest the irrigation projection that President Lula approved that will pump water from the San Francisco River over 435 miles to rural and arid areas in the northeast of the country.  He was taken to the hospital on Wednesday after he lost consciousness.  The Vatican and the Brazilian Council of Bishops have tried to convince the bishop to end his protest in response to the safety of his health. 

Bishop Cappio stated, after being released from the hospital, that he has interrupted the fast but not the purpose of the fight.  He wanted to block the project because he and other critics believe it is too expensive and that it will cause environmental problems.  Cappio thinks that the project will actually benefit wealthy landowners more then the poor people in the country.  Other critics suggest that the reduction in the river’s water level could impact the navigability, migration of the first, and the biodiversity of the river. 

President Lula stated that the protest would not change the government’s projects as it will bring water to 12 million people and continued that “there is no way the government will give in.”  The irrigation project is estimated to cost the country $3.7 billion and will take years to complete the necessary construction.

The project was halted as a result of court proceedings because of alleged irregularities in the approval of the project’s funding.  The Supreme Court on Wednesday overruled the lower courts suspension with a vote of 6 to 3. 

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Brazil’s protesting bishop suspends hunger strike – 21 December 2007

BBC News – Brazil Bishop Ends Hunger Strike – 21 December 2007