Colombia News: FARC Rebel Group's 'Abortion Doctor' Captured in Spain

Spanish authorities reportedly captured a Colombian rebel who had been dubbed as the "abortion doctor" after performing approximately 150 abortions involving female members of FARC guerrilla fighters, who were forced to end their pregnancies. 

In a report from AFP as posted in Yahoo News, Colombian authorities have confirmed the capture of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) member in Madrid, Spain.

"Captured in Madrid, Spain, alias The Nurse or The Medic, presumed to be responsible for performing close to 150 abortions in the FARC," the outlet cited in a statement from the Bogota prosecutor's office posted on Twitter.

According to Breitbart, Colombia sought Hector Albeidis Arboleda Buitrago and even asked Interpol to release an international wanted alert, or the so-called "red notice," after reports linked him to hundreds of abortions between 1998 and 2000 involving the women of FARC.

The outlet explained that such notice "requires countries to arrest extradite the person cited," something Buitrago did not expect as he seeks political asylum in Madrid.

According to AFP, any member of the FARC who is impregnated is forced to undergo an abortion, orchestrated by Buitrago, in order to facilitate what Colombian Prosecutor General, Eduardo Montealegre, described as "a FARC policy."

"Forced abortion was a FARC policy, a policy which allowed the FARC not to lose female guerrillas as instruments of war," Montealegre told the press.

Because of this, the FARC member is accused of aggravated conspiracy and torture, and initiating non-consensual abortions.

Breitbart noted that The Nurse's case has become a big issue in the Latin American country because abortion is illegal there, with the exception of rape cases, when a doctor deems that the fetus would not have survived childbirth, or when the mother's life is in jeopardy, per a policy implemented in 2006.

Founded in 1964, the FARC is one of two largest Marxist guerrilla groups in Colombia with an estimated number of fighters already at 7,000. The second biggest group is the National Liberation Army (ELN) with 2,500 fighters. 

Back in August, the FARC had denied the use of sexual violence "as a weapon of war," although they did not exactly pinpoint the forced abortions as the issue being referred to. 

Authorities revealed that 50 out of the estimated 150 forced abortions involved underage women.

Currently, the FARC is threatening to reject a peace deal with the Colombian government, which would require every FARC guerrilla to surrender their weapons and be subjected to a tribunal that would determine their punishment, due to the government's decision to conduct a referendum vote on their acceptance of the agreement.