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Colombia's attorney general has requested that Interpol issue red-notice arrest warrants for ELN's commanders and other members of the guerrilla group.
The red notice will allow authorities to preventively arrest and detain 21 guerrillas from the National Liberation Army, or ELN, Attorney General Office Claudia Carrasquilla said Tuesday.
The ELN leaders facing arrest include Israel Ramirez (Pablo Beltran), until recently chief negotiator for the peace talks with the Colombian government; Eliecer Herlindo Chamorro (Antonio Garcia); Rafael Sierra (Ramiro Vargas), and Gustavo Anibal Giraldo Quinchia (Pablito).
The charges include forced disappearance, forced displacement and rebellion, according to a statement posted on the Twitter account of the judicial authority.
The Public Ministry accuses the ELN of assassinating three former guerrillas belonging to the Revolutionary Alternative Forces of the Commons, or FARC, as well as the forced recruitment of minors in the province of Choco, plus a dozen attacks carried out between February 10 and 13.
Talks between the ELN and the Colombian government started in Feb. 2017 with the support of Ecuador, Brazil, Cuba, Chile, Norway and Venezuela, among other countries.
Despite international support, the negotiations were suspended on Jan. 29 after ELN rebels attacked three police stations, killing seven people and injuring at least 40 more.
Since then, the Catholic church, the National Network of Citizen Initiatives for Peace and Against War (Redepaz), and lawmakers have voiced their support for re-establishing the peace talks.
However, talks with the ELN and the peace agreement struck with FARC have been used by supporters of former president Alvaro Uribe to attack President Juan Manuel Santos' government for bowing to rebel pressure.
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