Colombia’s largest rebel group FARC on Monday asked authorities and the Red Cross to repatriate rebels who died in the bombing of a camp in Ecuador in 2008.
A letter marked ”Urgent” and ”Humanitarian” was issued via the FARC’s official website with a subject of ”the repatriation of human remains of FARC fighters killed in Sucumbios, near the border of the Republic of Ecuador.”
On March 1, the Colombian military launched an attack against a FARC camp in Ecuador, the battle claimed the life of the rebels’ second in command, alias “Raul Reyes,” along with 25 others.
The letter, signed by the FARC’s central command, requests “that our dead comrades (whose number is not accurate) will be repatriated as soon as possible, with their forensic examinations to be identified and put into the hands of their relatives so that they are given proper burial.”
Additionally, the rebel command wrote that “while the body of Commander Raul Reyes was transferred to Colombia, so far the authorities have not given information on the whereabouts of his remains. It is necessary for his bereaved family and the country in general to know about his fate.”
The FARC has been fighting the Colombian state since 1964. The group is currently involved in peace talks with the Colombian government.
