From: Colombian Labor Monitor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Thu, 17 May 2001 10:12:41 -0500 (CDT)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: AP: 207 Hostages Seized in Colombia
[NOTE: The paramilitaries have the backing of powerful circles in
Colombia's security forces and business establishment. The U.S.
is pumping over $1 billion into the Colombian military, an
institution with the worst human rights record in the Western
hemisphere, and one that relies heavily on the paramilitaries to
conduct its dirty war. -DG]
============================================
The statement, faxed late Wednesday to a
television station, was written on letter-
head of a unit of the rightist United Self-
Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC. It
indicated that most of the hostages taken
Tuesday would be freed. But it said 26
hostages would remain captive until they
explain ''certain behavior.'' The statement
was signed by ''Commander HK'', the nickname
of a paramilitary commander authorities say
escaped from prison over the weekend.
_____________ ============================================
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Thursday, 17 May 2001
207 Hostages Seized in Colombia
-------------------------------
By Margarita Martinez
BOGOTA -- Rightist paramilitary fighters kidnapped as many as 207
plantation workers in Colombia's eastern plains, apparently as part of a
battle over territory with leftist guerrillas.
Officials called it the largest mass kidnapping ever in Colombia, though
there were conflicting statements about the number of hostages.
A statement that appeared to be from the paramilitaries claimed
responsibility for the abductions in Casanare State calling them a
response to attempts by guerrillas to infiltrate the area and seize
control of its lucrative palm oil-producing plantations.
The statement, faxed late Wednesday to a television station, was written
on letterhead of a unit of the rightist United Self-Defense Forces of
Colombia, or AUC.
It indicated that most of the hostages taken Tuesday would be freed. But
it said 26 hostages would remain captive until they explain ''certain
behavior.'' The statement was signed by ''Commander HK'', the nickname of
a paramilitary commander authorities say escaped from prison over the
weekend.
Earlier Wednesday, President Andres Pastrana and armed forces chief Gen.
Fernando Tapias said they suspected the AUC was responsible for the
abductions of mostly young men working on the plantations.
The president told reporters that troops were being deployed into the
area, but that officials would tread carefully to avoid endangering the
hostages some of whom he said were minors.
The workers were seized as they left their jobs in the Villanueva area, 80
miles east of the capital, Bogota, Tapias said. About 200 family members,
frantic with worry, gathered in front of the Villanueva town hall on
Wednesday.
''This collective kidnapping has characteristics such as we have never
seen before in this country,'' Tapias said in a radio address.
Casanare Gov. William Perez Espinel said 207 people were reported missing.
Prosecutors put the number of hostages at 202, and the military at 190.
Colombia torn by violence with left-wing rebels and right-wing
paramilitaries has the world's highest kidnapping rate, with some 3,700
people abducted last year, according to police. The State Department
recently included the 8,000-member AUC on a list of terrorist
organizations, citing increased kidnappings.
For most of the day Wednesday, the military had said that most of the
victims had been freed overnight and had returned home. Tapias at first
said all but 27 of the captives had returned home. Hours later, after
consulting with his generals, Tapias went on the radio and said 190 people
were still being held.
The motive for the kidnapping was unclear, although there was initially
speculation it was a forced recruitment drive by the paramilitaries.
Several witnesses interviewed on local television said young men were
separated from a larger group of hostages, and taken away in trucks.
Gen. Ismael Trujillo, the chief federal investigator, said it was also
possible the kidnappers are trying to extort money from plantation owners.
Fighters from AUC, backed by big landowners and with covert connections to
the military, have been attacking leftist rebels _ and massacring
suspected rebel collaborators throughout Colombia's civil war, now in its
37th year.
Officials said the mass kidnapping in Casanare was unprecedented for the
AUC. The group has kidnapped villagers, human rights workers and
politicians, but never such a large group at once.
Last month, leftist rebels kidnapped 34 oil workers in neighboring Arauca
State. They were freed three days later.
The previous biggest kidnapping was in June 1999, when leftist rebels of
the National Liberation Army kidnapped 150 people from a church from
Colombia's third-biggest city, Cali. Many were freed within days, and the
rest gained their freedom within months.
Copyright 2001 Associated Press
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