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THE CHURCH: CONSTANT VICTIM OF THE ARMED CONFLICT IN COLOMBIA

KIDNAPPING: THE CASE OF MONSIGNOR JORGE ENRIQUE JIMÉNEZ

Kidnapping is a violation of Articles 1, 3, 5 and 9 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution 217a (III) dated 10 December 1948 and is still in force.

There are two basic types of kidnapping: kidnapping for purposes of extortion, and simple kidnapping. The purpose of the former is implicit in its definition, while the latter is usually carried out by subversive groups for political purposes. The aim is generally to blackmail the government and put pressure on it to grant some concession or other.

32% of the 2,986 kidnappings that were reported in Colombia in 2002 were cases of simple kidnapping, while the remaining 64% were for purposes of extortion. The most commonly reported simple kidnappings were parents claiming the custody of their children. Kidnapping for purposes of extortion and extortion itself, meanwhile, are not just police or common criminal problems. As with drug trafficking, they are fundamental mechanisms for financing terrorist action by armed organisations. In 2002, more than 2,000 Colombians from all walks of life were kidnapped by rebel or illegal self-defence groups (1,836 and 183, respectively). The ransoms that are paid for these hostages finance terrorism.

As with thousands of other Colombians, members of religious orders have been kidnap victims; according to Episcopal Conference data, five bishops, nineteen priests and one missionary have been kidnapped since 1984.

One of the cases that most upset the country and the international community was that of Monsignor Jorge Enrique Jiménez, bishop of Zipaquirá and chairman of the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), who was kidnapped by FARC guerrillas on November 10, 2002, together with the parish priest of Pacho (Cundinamarca), Desiderio Orjuela.

Monsignor Jorge Enrique Jiménez, bishop of Zipaquirá, was
kidnapped by the FARC in 2002). File / EL TIEMPO

The kidnapping occurred in the morning at a place called "El Roblón" in the county of Pacho, Cundinamarca, when Monsignor Jiménez and parish priest Desiderio Orjuela were on their way to the hamlet of San Antonio de Aguilera, where they were scheduled to hold first communion, confirmation and christening ceremonies. They were intercepted by two men from the FARC narco-terrorist group.

Once the kidnapping had been confirmed, National Army Commander, Carlos Alberto Ospina, claimed that the perpetrators of the crime were the Policarpa Salavarrieta section of the FARC's 22nd Front, which operated in that part of the country. A reward of 36,000 dollars was offered to anyone providing information relating to the whereabouts of the two men.

Due to information received from the local people and effective action by the Armed Forces, both Monsignor Jiménez and parish priest Desiderio Orjuela were freed on 15 November in the mountains near Topiapí, a town some 150 kilometres from Bogotá. Two prison sentences resulted from this kidnapping, with the Second Penal Judge of the Cundinamarca Special Circuit sentencing John Leiver Quintero Chaparro and Carlos Yiovanni Rodríguez to 372 months and one day in prison after finding them guilty of kidnapping Monsignor Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal and parish priest Desiderio Orjuela for purposes of extortion. Quintero Chaparro and Yiovanni Rodríguez were also ordered to pay a heavy fine, were banned from holding public office for a period of time equal to that of their prison sentence, and were declared jointly liable for the moral damage caused. At the time of the kidnapping, the kidnappers identified themselves as being members of the FARC's Estéban Ramírez front. (Source: Public Prosecutor's Office).