Police officers and soldiers held captive by the leftist guerrilla group known as the FARC pleaded to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to negotiate their release in a series of nine proof-of-life videos released Monday, CNN reported.
The videos, obtained by Senator Piedad Cordoba, who has helped negotiate with FARC, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, were believed to have been recorded in April.
Nine of the 21 soldiers and police kidnapped by the FARC addressed their families and some their government in the short videos. Each captive appeared on a separate video, some with the jungle in the background and others with colored or patterned backdrops.
Some family members of the kidnapped officials were not consoled by the proof-of-life videos. "We don't want more proof, we want them here," said Hilda Duarte, sister of one of the captives.
In his video, Police Sgt. Arbey Delgado said the government had been successful with an operation last year that freed some captives, including former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three American contractors, and pleaded with the government to find a way to free them, too.
"Are we not human any more? Are we just animals?" Delgado said in the video. Most of the policemen and soldiers who appeared in the videos have been in captivity for more than 10 years.