By Paula Buzzi
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia – The Colombian government rejected on Tuesday the FARCs request for a debate on freedom of information in exchange for the release of French journalist Romeo Langlois. Langlois was taken hostage on April 28 while documenting  counter-narcotics operations in Colombia for the news network France 24. He was kidnapped when the plantoon he was with came under fire.

The FARC, unsatisfied with the way they have been portrayed by the media, demanded on Monday that the Colombian government hold a debate on the role of the press in covering the armed conflict in the Andean nation. They posted their demand on the Sweden-based Anncol news agency where they frequently post as a way to communicate with the government. The FARC has accused the Colombian government of manipulating the way journalists have bent public opinion against them.

Amnesty International and Inter American Press Association responded to the FARC’s by demanding that they release Langlois without any conditions. “Langlois must be released immediately without any conditions and measures should be taken to ensure that all journalists in Colombia can carry out their work freely,” they said in a statement on Tuesday.

Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon told reporters on Tuesday that the Colombian government will not negotiate with criminal groups such as the FARC which has carried out countless criminal acts through out the years. “No way will we engage in any kind of debate. … They must free him as soon as possible,” he said.

The FARC has called Langlois a “prisoner of war” on their YouTube channel. Pinzon says that they cannot call him a prisoner of war because he was just doing his job as a journalist.

According to Pinzon, the Colombian government has been in contact with the diplomats from the French Embassy to discuss plans for Langlois’ immediate release since the kidnapping. He says, however, that no rescue operations have been launched yet.

Despite some setbacks in the recent years, the FARC remains the number one threat to the Colombia government, with roughly 8,000 rebels still fighting. They are widely known for drug trafficking and deadly kidnappings. In February, the FARC announced that they would stop taking hostages for ransom, however, they claim that they never agreed to stop kidnapping for political means to pressure the Colombian government.