UN Condemns Colombian Narco-Terrorists’ Execution Of Hostages
By Jim Kouri
On Sunday, the United Nations released a statement condemning Colombia’s ruthless terrorist group, FARC, for its execution of four military and police hostages who had been held in captivity for more than 10 years.
The U.N. Office in Colombia released the statement after confirming this weekend that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) had killed the four hostages, Elkin Hernandez Rivas, Edgar Yesid Duarte Valero, Alvaro Moreno and Jose Libio Martinez, after a failed rescue attempt by the Colombian Armed Forces.
The fifth man to be executed — Police Sergeant Luis Alberto Erazo — managed to escape his captors when he fled into the jungle where he was found by Colombian special forces troops.
“These are crimes against humanity,” said Christian Salazar Volkmann, the U.N. human rights office representative in Colombia, in his statement released on Sunday.
Volkmann offered his condolences to the families of the victims and called on all the people of Colombia to do more to resolve their differences and end the more than 40-year conflict between the government and the Marxist narco-terrorist FARC.
These vicious acts are not isolated and reflect a terrible lack of humanity and complete disregard for human life which must be recognized all Colombians if they wish to live in peace, he wrote.
Volkmann called on FARC to stop committing war crimes and violating international humanitarian law, and appealed to the government of President Juan Manuel Santos to consider a negotiated settlement.
However, Volkmann did not mention FARC’s growing involvement in the international drug trade nor did he mention reports of FARC collaboration with radical Islamic groups also involved in the drug trade.
“This [U.N.] office is calling for a peaceful solution to this bloody conflict [in order] to guarantee sustainable peace for the Colombian people,” he concluded.
FARC is Colombia’s largest rebel group and has been engaged in an armed struggle against the government since 1964.
