A draft document detailing the terms of the liberation of FARC hostages Pablo Emilio Moncayo and Josue Daniel Calvo was published Monday.The FARC have authorized Brazil to facilitate the release.
The document, published by El Tiempo, lays down the terms of the long-anticipated hostage release.
It stipulates that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is required to notify the army and the police of the zone where the release will take place at least two days prior to the operation. The liberation will occur in one of twelve municipalities between Guaviare and Putumayo, in the south of Colombia.
The ICRC must also notify the Colombian government of the air craft and the identities of the crew involved in the operation, prior to its commencement.
The Colombian government has committed to suspending all police and military operations in the zones indicated by the ICRC from 6 PM on the day before the operation until 6 AM the day following the operation.
The protocol draft also stipulates that all civil and military flights over the municipalities indicated must be suspended. Only commercial airplanes with a predetermined flight plan will be permitted to fly and must fly at a height of more than 20,000 feet.
The Defense Ministry must also suspend all military operations on land, water and in the air in the zones indicated.
The ICRC will inform the government if weather or any other unforseen problems delay the mission.
Colombian senator and hostage liberation negotiator, Piedad Cordoba, confirmed Sunday that the FARC authorized Brazil to facilitate the release. Brazil will organize and provide transportation.
All of the parties involved in the much-anticipated liberation were consulted over the protocol, El Tiempo reported.
Negotiations for Moncayo and Calvo’s release have been going on for almost a year now. The FARC first announced that it would release the hostages in April 2009.
The Colombian government broke a stalemate in negotiations late last November when it authorized the ICRC and the Catholic Church to begin negotiations with the FARC over the long-awaited release.