Incident Summary:
07/17/2008: On Thursday, 17 Colombian tourists who were traveling on the country's northwestern jungle rivers at a site between the municipalities of Riosucio and Quibdó, Chocó department, Colombia, were taken hostage by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The next day on 07/18/2008, the FARC released eight of the 17 hostages at the riverbanks of the Atrato River in Chocó department. On Wednesday, 07/23/2008, the International Committee of the Red Cross arranged for the release of eight more hostages in a rural area of Vigia del Fuerte, Antioquia department. The Red Cross denied that any ransom payment was made for the exchange of the hostages and it is unknown if the Colombian military paid a ransom for the release of the first set of hostages. No claim of responsibility was made for the incident and the status of the last remaining hostage is unknown.
Overview
GTD ID:
200807170004
When:
2008-07-17
Country:
Colombia
Region:
South America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Choco
City:
Riosucio district
Location Details:
The hostage taking attack took place on the country's northwestern jungle rivers at a site between the municipalities of Riosucio and Quibdó, Chocó department, Colombia.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Hostage Taking (Kidnapping) |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Tourists |
Name of Entity |
|
Specific Description |
Seventeen Colombian tourists |
Nationality of Target |
Colombia |
Additional Information
Hostages |
Yes |
Number of Hostages |
17 |
US Hostages |
0 |
Days of Kidnapping |
7 |
Outcome |
Hostage(s) released by perpetrators |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Unknown |
|
Weapon Details |
It is unknown if weapons were used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
Eight of the hostages were released on 07/18/2008 the day after the initial hostage taking took place, while eight more hostages were released seven days later on 07/23/2008. The status of the last remaining hostage is unknown. Also, the summary of this i |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
La Nota, The FARC Gave the Red Cross Eight Hostages," La Nota, July 24, 2008. |
US Fed News, "Colombian Rebels Turn Over Eight Hostages to Red Cross," Lexis Nexis, US Fed News, July 24, 2008. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties