Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on the situation in Colombia

On the 2nd anniversary of the kidnapping of Alan Jara, former governor of the Department of Meta, from a UN vehicle in Colombia, the Secretary-General again calls on the FARC to immediately release Mr. Jara. The FARC is responsible for Mr. Jara's physical well-being and should provide proof that he is alive to his family, which has wrongly suffered his forced absence.

The Secretary-General urgently appeals to the FARC and others to release all those kidnapped and to stop this inhumane practice. It is a gross violation of human rights and international humanitarian law that has inflicted terrible suffering on the Colombian people.