Church willing to collaborate in finding way to bring back bodies of slain government officials

Bogotá, Colombia, Jul 3, 2007 / 08:37 am

The president of the Bishops’ Conference of Colombia, Archbishop Luis  Augusto Castro, said the Church in that country is willing to collaborate in finding ways to return the bodies of 18 government officials who were killed on June 18 after spending more than two years held captive by the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC).

“The Church is willing to seek out different alternatives,” the archbishop said, noting that one option would be to establish contact with the FARC in order to facilitate the finding of the bodies, since “without their help it will be very difficult to get the bodies returned.”

Archbishop Castro called for an “international commission, not exactly the one proposed by European countries (Spain, France and Switzerland), but their suggestion should definitely be taken into consideration.”

Spain, France and Switzerland suggested the Colombian government request an international commission be formed in accord with the Geneva Conventions in order to investigate the deaths of the lawmakers.  However,  President Alvaro Uribe rejected this idea and said it was disrespectful to put “the FARC and the government on the same level.”

Archbishop Castro warned that the country remains mired in “a vicious circle” that is leading nowhere.