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Colombia: Sergeant Moncayo is free after 12 years in captivity

30-03-2010 News Release 10/50

Bogotá (ICRC) – This afternoon, in a rural area of Caquetá, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) released Sergeant Pablo Emilio Moncayo. He had been held for over 12 years. He was handed over to delegates from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Colombian senator Piedad Córdoba and Monsignor Leonardo Gómez Serna.

   

  ©Reuters/J. Vizcaino    
 
Sergeant Moncayo is hugged by his sister upon his arrival in Florencia    
    Sergeant Moncayo, 32, was subsequently transferred to the city of Florencia in a helicopter bearing the red cross emblem, provided by the government of Brazil. There, he was reunited with his family.

Private Josué Daniel Calvo was handed over to the same humanitarian delegation on Sunday in a rural area of Me ta.

The ICRC is very pleased with the success of these two humanitarian operations, which were made possible thanks to the combined efforts of the government of Brazil, the government of Colombia and its police and armed forces, Colombians for Peace, the Church and the FARC.

In its capacity as a neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian organization, the ICRC reiterates its readiness to facilitate the release of other detained persons and the return of the body of police officer Major Julián Ernesto Guevara’s body to his family.

 

For further information, please contact:
  Carlos Ríos, ICRC Bogotá (in Spanish), tel +57 1 313 86 30 or +57 311 4 91 07 75
  Pascal Jequier, ICRC Bogotá (in French and English), tel +57 311 491 07 89
  Marçal Izard, ICRC Geneva, tel +41 22 730 24 58 or +41 79 217 32 24


 See also the interview with Christophe Beney, ICRC's head of delegation in Colombia  


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