The wife of a soldier, who had been kidnapped last Tuesday by the National Liberation Army (ELN) in Araucawas handed over by her captors to a humanitarian mission, the Ombudsman’s Office reported this Sunday.
“We are glad that Jennifer Arboleda Millán has been released and can return to her home, safe and sound, after she was handed over to the humanitarian mission in Arauca,” said Ombudsman Carlos Camargo, quoted in a statement from his office. .
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Camargo added that he also hoped for the release of all the people who “are in the hands of the armed groups in that region of the country.”
Arboleda was kidnapped along with a public service driverlast Tuesday on a highway that runs between the towns of Saravena and Arauquita.
On that occasion, the Army explained that the kidnapped woman is the wife of a soldier who is part of the Quirón Task Force, while at the same time it attributed this crime to the Eastern War Front of the ELN, which operates in Arauca, Boyacá and Casanare, and in Apure (Venezuela).
The Ombudsman detailed today that Arboleda was transferred to the 18th General “Gabriel Revéiz Pizarro” Mechanized Cavalry Group, in the town of Saravena, where she was given the necessary attention to review her general state of health.
The agency recalled that it keeps its humanitarian channels open and its institutional capacity in the country to facilitate that “all persons deprived of liberty can return to their homes with their integrity safeguarded.”
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Last week, at the close of the third cycle of talks between the ELN and the government in Havana, the parties announced a 180-day national bilateral ceasefire that will begin on August 3.
At the moment, the ceasefire protocol implies “not carrying out actions prohibited by International Humanitarian Law (IHL)”, but the parties are still meeting to try to give more precision and draw the red lines before the start date.
In this sense, the ELN’s chief negotiator, Israel Ramírez, alias “Pablo Beltrán”, explained that actions such as kidnapping, extortion and the so-called collection of “taxes” in their areas of influence were discussed in Havana but ultimately were not included for the moment for not reaching an agreement.