Colombia’s largest guerrilla group FARC say they do not torture their
hostages and use chains to secure their “prisoners” because they are a
“mobile guerrilla that fights in the jungle.”
In a “letter to the prisoners of war”, published on the rebels’ website Saturday and directed to the 22 members of the Colombian security forces, the leadership of the guerrillas defend their hostages’ captivity.
“You, as persons, are not our enemies, because we understand what you and your families are going through, just like the hundreds of guerrillas who currently are held in jails as prisoners of war,” the letter begins.
The FARC explains their hostages that they are taken prisoner “just like many of us.”
In the letter, the FARC’s secretariat says that they treat their captives with respect and, because of the guerrillas’ “rules and principles”, respect the integrity and dignity of those held by the guerrillas “without torture or humiliation or degrading interrogations.”
“If we have used chains it is only because we are a mobile guerrilla that fights in the jungle and doesn’t have prisons and are under permenant siege. There is no other way to guarantee your security,” the letter explains.