Police captives 'prisoners of war'
2013-01-30 21:16
Havana - Colombia's leftist Farc rebels on Wednesday
confirmed they are holding two captured police officers, but ignored government
charges that it was a violation of human rights.
The policemen were captured on Friday in the south-western
province of Valle del Cauca, the first by the Farc since the rebel group freed
what they said were their last 10 captive police and soldiers.
A Farc statement said the latest two were "prisoners
of war" and reaffirmed a pledge not to resume kidnappings for ransom, a
practice it pledged to end a year ago.
In their latest statement, the guerrilla group drew a
distinction between the capture of security forces and the kidnappings for
ransom, in the past a major source of income for the rebels.
The Farc "has made a commitment in terms of not
carrying out any more detentions of an economic character," it said.
"At the same time, we reserve the right to take
prisoner members of the security force who have surrendered in combat."
"They are called prisoners of war, and this
phenomenon occurs in any conflict in the world," it said.
The policemen's capture came six days after the Farc
ended a unilateral two-month-long ceasefire that it had declared at the start
of peace talks in Havana with the government of President Juan Manuel Santos.
Those talks, the first in a decade after three previous
failures, resume on Thursday after a weeklong recess.
Colombia's Vice President Angelino Garzon warned on
Sunday, after the policemen were taken prisoner, that a resumption of
hostage-takings by the Farc could undermine the peace talks.
- SAPA
