Colombia: Nearly 40,000 People Kidnapped In 40 Years

At least 39,058 people have been abducted at least once in their life in the past four decades in Colombia, representing an average of nearly a thousand cases per year, according to a study by the Institute Cifras y Conceptos, released Thursday in Bogotá.

The document A Kidnapped Truth: Forty Years of Kidnapping Statics (1970-2010), indicates that abductions are widespread throughout the country with cases reported in 1,006 of Colombia's 1,102 municipalities.

The investigation was conducted by the National Center for Historical Memory and consulting and research firm Cifras & Conceptos, which documented almost 40 thousands kidnapping victims.  

France Press agency stated the report was made out of official information provided by the police and fiscalia, but also with testimonies provided by NGOs.

"Through this investigation the National Historic Memory Center wants to provide the country a way to know the truth and provide justice for the victims of kidnapping", said the public institution in the document.

"We are convinced that the statics are a way to express the voice of the victims", the report said, while acknowledging that "there is no certainty on the numbers of kidnapped people."

But the investigation does show that 80 percent of victims are men between 18 and 65 years and their abductions were for economic ends, while 12 percent were politically motivated and four percent were carried out for other reasons.

Foreign cases, despite receiving much attention from the media, are a minority, accounting for three percent  of the total.

Of the kidnappings, 20 percent of victims were rescued by authorities, 67 percent were released on payment of ransom, 5 percent escaped, while 8 percent ended in murders, according to the report..

Furthermore, the findings revealed, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the Andean nation's largest guerrilla insurgency, was confirmed as being responsible for 37 percent of the kidnappings in the last 40 years.

The FARC is currently engaged in peace talks in Havana with President Juan Manuel Santo's government.

In the 90s, the highest peak of the FARC, kidnappings exceeded two thousand annually. The year 2000 sets a record with 3,500 captives. In 2004, criminal gangs gradually took first place and the number of hostages went down to 1,252 in 2010.