ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services-Saturday, December 6, 1997 Vol. 3 - 340
COLOMBIA: THE WORLD LEADER IN
KIDNAPPINGS
By Steve Macko, ERRI Risk Analyst
No country is as plagued more by kidnapping as Colombia, where an estimated one in three of the world's abductions occur. Leftist Guerrillas, who control large swaths of countryside, have made it a lucrative business. Ransom kidnapping by guerrillas, blamed for half of Colombia's 10,000 reported cases since 1990, has crippled some of the country's industries, forced highway projects to be canceled in midconstruction, and has impoverished entire regions.
Colombia currently has more than 100 reported cases of people being held for ransom. The true number is probably much higher because scores of victimized families don't notify authorities. This is a country notorious for cocaine lords, corrupt politicians and endemic violence, where getting involved often means getting killed. Little surprise, then, that kidnapping has become so commonplace.
Colombia has an anti-kidnapping law enforcement agency. It was created in early 1996. It is the the world's only federal agency devoted exclusively to combating kidnapping. The agency has 2,000 agents and 24 prosecutors permanently assigned to it.
Colombian kidnappers run the gamut from left-wing guerrillas to para- militaries, common criminals, corrupt policemen, drug traffickers, political rivals -- even close relatives. Their victims also cover a broad spectrum.
A 13-year-old national BMX cycling champ was rescued by police in November 1996, a day after he was grabbed on his way to school in the northwestern city of Medellin. Children are accepted prey.
The motive for kidnapping is nearly always money. Ransom demands range from several hundred to several million dollars. The average length of captivity ranges from 15 to 30 days if the captors are common criminals. It's six to eight months if the abductors are guerrillas.
Conditions of captivity vary widely. Few people held by the two main guerrilla groups -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) -- complain of maltreatment. They're usually kept without restraints in the open air and mostly just curse the boredom, bland diet and insect bites.
But kidnappers who lack a code of honor can get rough. Ex-President Cesar Gaviria's brother Juan Carlos was kidnapped by a little-known outlaw group, and had to endure two months in a cramped underground pit in 1996. He could barely walk when he was freed. At least he survived. About one in ten kidnap victims end up dead.
Brian Jenkins, deputy chairman of the highly-respected international security firm Kroll Associates, said, "Nowhere else has kidnapping achieved this magnitude, scale and indeed sophistication. It's a growing enterprise."
Many multinational corporations say that they won't open offices in Colombia, and expatriate executives and wealthy Colombians must secure multimillion-dollar kidnap insurance policies and move about with bodyguards.
Just in a EmergencyNet News was going to press:
Dec. 6, 1997; Bogota, Colombia--(EmergencyNet News)--Colombian President Ernesto Samper's press secretary and a radio reporter were allegedly kidnapped by suspected drug traffickers on Friday. Two people describing themselves as members of the drug-related 'Extraditables' phoned a Colombian radio network and claimed responsibility for the hostage-taking. Emergencynet News will continue to follow details of this story.
(c) Copyright, EmergencyNet NEWS Service, 1997. All Rights Reserved. Redistribution without permission is prohibited by law.
The ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT is a subscription publication of the EmergencyNet NEWS Service, which is a part of the Chicago-based Emergency Response and Research Institute. This publication specializes in Corporate Security/ Terrorism/Intelligence/Military/Crisis Management and National Security issues.
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