Reference :
V-P-CO-E-00476
Date :
01/02/2009
Caption :
Villavicencio airport. Release of FARC hostages, three police officers and one soldier, under ICRC auspices.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
1-02-2009 News release 09/27
Colombia: FARC releases three police officers and one soldier
Bogotá (ICRC) – On the afternoon of 1 February, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) released police officers Alexis Torres Zapata, Juan Fernando Galicia and José Walter Lozano and William Giovanni Rodríguez of the armed forces. The FARC handed the four men over to members of Colombians for Peace and delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in a jungle area of the department of Caquetá.
As soon as it had checked the men's identities, the ICRC contacted their families to inform them of their release. The men were subsequently transferred in a helicopter bearing the ICRC logo to the city of Villavicencio, where they were handed over to the authorities.
The ICRC thanks the government of Brazil, the government, police and armed forces of Colombia, Colombians for Peace and the FARC for their cooperation in this humanitarian endeavour. It is the first phase of a wider operation during which more people are to be freed.
In its capacity as a neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian organization, the ICRC will continue to seek every means of obtaining the prompt release of additional hostages and other detained persons.
Original material :
digital
Resolution :
4000x3000
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
colour
