A/HRC/7/39 page 16 The systematic kidnapping and the prolonged captivity of hostages are a matter of grave concern. FARC-EP disregard the obligation to give humane treatment to persons deprived of their freedom for reasons related to the conflict, as is the case of members of the security forces held captive for many years. They also take hostages to obtain economic benefits or to exert political pressure. These military and police personnel and civilians have spent many years in captivity in conditions which are not verifiable, with no access to the humanitarian intervention by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). This must be a cause for serious ethical and legal reflection that should question the categories of breaches of international humanitarian law applied to these situations in the light of the universal criminal jurisdiction. The High Commissioner has always unreservedly condemned this situation and has insisted firmly and repeatedly that the kidnap victims should be unconditionally released. 46. FARC-EP continued to plant anti-personnel mines and to commit violent acts. They are considered to be responsible for a car-bomb explosion in Cali on 10 April which destroyed the Headquarters of the Metropolitan Police there, produced the death of a civilian, and severely damaged various buildings. 47. Although ELN continues to engage in talks with the Government, it continues to disregard international humanitarian law and has made death threats, committed murders, taken hostages and used anti-personnel mines. Among their crimes, there was the murder of an indigenous leader of the Awa ethnic group in Ricaurte, Nariño, and kidnappings in Norte de Santander and Arauca. 48. Fighting continues between FARC-EP and ELN in the departments of Arauca,37 Cauca and Nariño, and this has led to an increase in the number of murders, death threats, planting of anti-personnel mines, and forced displacement. D. Situations of special concern and particularly vulnerable groups38 1. Victims of the armed conflict 49. As noted earlier, the Attorney General’s Office has registered over 121,547 victims of crimes committed by members of paramilitary groups who expect to exercise their rights in the proceedings in progress under Law 975/2005. Nevertheless, the number of victims of crimes committed in the internal armed conflict is not restricted to that group alone, and the condition of the victims as such is not derived from the State’s recognition or by their participation in judicial proceedings. All of these victims have a legitimate aspiration to truth, justice, and integral 37 In Arauca alone during the first six months of 2007, 128 murders were attributed mainly to FARC-EP and ELN. 38 The office in Colombia has been following up situations which also affect sectors such as the community of lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, including cases of homicide such as those perpetrated against transvestites, particularly in Cali, where 12 murders of this kind were reported in the first six months of 2007.