Page "Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia" Paragraph 109

According to Amnesty International, the number of kidnappings has decreased in recent years but the human rights organization estimates that FARC and ELN guerrillas continue to be behind hundreds of cases.

In 2008, press reports estimated that about 700 hostages continued to be held captive by FARC.

According to the Fundación País Libre anti-kidnapping NGO, an estimated total of 6, 778 people were kidnapped by FARC between 1997 and 2007.

In 2009, the state's anti-kidnapping agency Fondelibertad reviewed 3, 307 officially unsettled cases and removed those that had already been resolved or for which there was insufficient information.

The agency concluded that 125 hostages remained in captivity nationwide of whom 66 were being held by the FARC-EP.

The government's revised figures were considered " absurdly low " by Fundación País Libre, which has argued that its own archives suggest an estimated 1, 617 people taken hostage between 2000 and 2008 remain in the hands of their captors, including hundreds seized by FARC.

FARC claimed at the time that it was holding nine people for ransom in addition to hostages kept for a prisoner exchange.