CSN Statement on FARC
CSN-Madison, December 1, 2003
We of the Colombia Support Network are outraged at the murder by the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) of a Japanese citizen, Chikao Muramatsu, whom they had kidnapped some two years ago. We understand he was the only Japanese citizen in the world in the hands of kidnappers. As we have in the past, we again protest in the strongest terms the FARC's practice of kidnapping innocent persons to hold them for ransom or for exchange for imprisoned members of the FARC. This practice violates the norms of human conduct and the requirements of International Humanitarian Law. It also casts serious doubt upon the commitment to principles of justice and human dignity which the FARC 's leadership has said on many occasions the organization embodies.
We call upon the FARC to desist immediately from this inhumane and criminal conduct and to identify and present for punishment those who carried out the assassination of Mr. Muramatsu. We express our sincerest sympathies to the Muramatsu family, victim of this murderous conduct of the FARC.
COLOMBIA SUPPORT NETWORK
John I. Laun, President
Colombia Support Network
P.O. Box 1505
Madison, WI 53701-1505
phone: (608) 257-8753
fax: (608) 255-6621
e-mail: csn@igc.org
http://www.colombiasupport.net