The Kidnap Industry in Colombia: Our Business? (Pax for Peace)
“This is an urgent call of a mother and a wife to the men who hold the Dutchman in their power, and to all the others who could give information on his whereabouts.
We, the mother of Mark and his wife, address ourselves to you in despair through this handout. Where is Mark??? Who can give information? We went to Colombia to look for our son and husband. But searching in your vast country is very difficult.
Who wants to help us? Our grief is so intense, we cannot take it any more.” 1 Today, almost one country in four around the world is affected by the crime of kidnapping. Colombia has been at the head of this sad list for a number of years. Even mass kidnappings and the kidnapping of small children have become part of this cynical form of financing a war. Taking hostage of unarmed, defenceless individuals not only paralyzes the individual victim, but also affects the psychological and economic integrity of an entire family. Moreover it creates an impossible moral dilemma for the individuals, companies and governments involved when ransom is demanded. On the one hand, paying ransom seems the only way to save the life of the victim. On the other hand, it contributes directly to the war. Pax Christi Netherlands has developed contacts over a large number of years with a wide variety of civil sectors in Colombia, especially the churches. We had to witness at close quarters many personal tragedies of the kidnapping of a loved one. The initiative to finally force an open discussion on the rôle of European companies and governments was suggested by various of our Colombian partners. One third of the abducted foreigners in Colombia are European, and together they account for a huge amount of ransom. While Europe is talking about the support of the European Union in dialogue and peace initiatives in Colombia, it fosters the war through ransom and extortion money at the same time...