AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH PEACE BRIGADES INTERNATIONAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 010845

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM CO
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH PEACE BRIGADES INTERNATIONAL

REF: BOGOTA 10565

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Milton K. Drucker. Reasons: 1.4 (b) an
d (d).

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Summary
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1. (U) On November 4, the Ambassador met with four
representatives of the human rights NGO Peace Brigades
International (PBI). The Ambassador thanked PBI for its hard
work and cooperation with the Embassy on relating sensitive
human rights cases. PBI raised concerns about protection for
labor leader Berenice Celeyta, the investigation into the
disappearance and murder of Afro-Colombian leader Orlando
Valencia, and recent reports of harassment and violence in
the San Jose de Apartado Peace Community. PBI also asked the
Embassy to encourage the Prosecutor General's Office to
investigate the soldiers who were allegedly brought to a
hospital after the Apartado massacre in February. PBI said
the Apartado Peace Community might be willing to talk with
GOC investigators if they perceived the GOC to be acting in
good faith. The Ambassador informed PBI of the Embassy's
efforts to ensure prompt and thorough investigations into all
three matters. The Ambassador's statement condemning the
Valencia murder and calling for justice is on the Embassy
website. End summary.

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Protection for Berenice Celeyta
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2. (U) PBI Representative Eric Lopp recently traveled to Cali
to accompany Berenice Celeyta, recipient of the RFK Human
Rights Award in 1998, and said Cali Chief of Police Jesus
Antonio Gomez Mendez did not appear to take threats against
Celeyta seriously. Lopp said that on October 13, Celeyta and
five other human rights workers received a threat in the form
of a funeral announcement, an issue which came up in her
meeting with Gomez. According to Lopp, Gomez conducted a
meeting with Celeyta in a "sarcastic" tone. PBI DC
Representative Ximena Sanchez said Celeyta's case seems
"emblematic of the situation of labor leaders everywhere in
Colombia." The Ambassador said he was aware of Celeyta's
case and said the Embassy would continue to follow the issue
of her protection.

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Keeping the Spotlight on Orlando Valencia Investigation
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3. (U) Sanchez said PBI was concerned about the situation in
the Jiguamiando community and environs, where Orlando
Valencia was kidnapped (reftel) and where she said threats
and intimidation are becoming more common. Indigenous
leaders, for whom the Interamerican Court of Human Rights has
requested protection, continue to be threatened in and
outside of their communities by unidentified armed actors,
according to Sanchez. NGO workers -- including PBI -- have
received threats as well, she said. Those who were
associated with Valencia or present during his disappearance
are also at great risk, in Sanchez's view. Kathleen Nygard,
a PBI representative who does risk assessment, asked the
Embassy to do what it could to make sure community members
can travel to the U.S. to tell their story. (Rafael
Figueroa, who was accompanying Valencia when he was
kidnapped, and Enrique Petro, to whose house Valencia was
traveling when he was kidnapped, both applied for and
obtained visas November 9-10 to visit the U.S.) Sanchez also
expressed the concern that a new Forestry Bill could
undermine collective land rights established under Colombia's
Law 70.


4. (U) The Ambassador agreed with Sanchez that an immediate,
thorough investigation needed to be conducted in the Valencia
case, and told her about Embassy efforts to press the GOC at
the highest levels on the matter. He also conveyed his
concerns about the redistribution of land under the program
for reparations, and the importance of finding a just
settlement for land where titling had been in limbo during
the conflict. He added that the Vice President has told him
he believes there is enough land being made available to
those who need it. (Since the meeting, the Embassy has posted
the Ambassador's statement about the Valencia case on its
website. The statement condemns the murder and calls for
justice.)

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Claims of Violence, Threats in San Jose de Apartado
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5. (C) June Holmes, a PBI representative who recently spent
over a year stationed in Urab, said that tension has been
steadily increasing since the massacre in San Jose de
Apartado in February. Most recently, she said, a group of 40
armed men on motorcycles drove to San Jose de Apartado,
bypassing military and police checkpoints without a problem,
and had a large party in the house of someone the Peace
Community considers to be a "known paramilitary" who goes by
the alias "Lalo." According to Community members, Lalo is
alleged to have been responsible for the massacre of four
civilians from San Jose de Apartado in 1999, and 15 civilians
from the Community in 2002. Holmes also said that PBI has
received reports that FARC deserters, allegedly from the
Peace Community and San Jose de Apartado area, have joined
local military and paramilitary groups to reveal FARC
infiltration in the Community in exchange for preferential
treatment.


6. (C) PolCouns asked if the Community was cooperating with
the GOC authorities trying to investigate the February
massacre. Sanchez said that during each of three visits by
representatives of the Inspector General, Community members
provided testimony and evidence. However, the Community
remained suspicious about investigators from the Prosecutor
General's Office because they believed individuals who
cooperated with the Office in the past were targeted for
threats. Sanchez added that if the Prosecutor General's
Office were to make a good faith effort and investigate the
soldiers who were allegedly brought to a hospital after the
massacre in February, as requested by Community members, it
might make the Community feel more comfortable with their
presence. Community members still were asking for more
protection guarantees in order to cooperate fully.


7. (C) According to Sanchez, setting up a local police post
in the urban center of San Jose de Apartado has created more
problems. According to the Interamerican Court decision on
the situation in San Jose de Apartado, a police presence was
supposed to have been set up outside the urban center and a
dialogue with the security forces was to have already begun.
The first police in the urban post kept a low profile, but
after two armed attacks by suspected FARC members in the area
they have increased their security posture, alienating the
residents. Sanchez said the creation of an office in San
Jose de Apartado for the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office,
however, was a positive development and residents were
cooperating with the office.


8. (C) The Ambassador said he would to continue to insist
that the GOC security forces treat residents fairly and
conduct a thorough investigation into the massacre (a message
that was conveyed by D/PolCouns in a meeting with Carlos
Franco from the Vice President's Office on Human Rights and
International Humanitarian Law on November 2). The case will
remain one of concern to the Embassy, he said, and will be
prominent during the certification process. However, he
underscored the need for Community residents not to make
their cooperation contingent on additional security
guarantees being provided, and said he would be surprised if
the residents accepted the security measures that were
offered.


9. (C) The Ambassador asked Sanchez whether PBI volunteers
had any observations on the demobilization and reinsertion of
former United Self-Defense force (AUC) members in the area.
Sanchez said while PBI has not taken an official stance on
the issue, it has been noted that recruitment by paramilitary
forces in the Uraba area has increased.

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Other Issues
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10. (C) Sanchez said there had recently been an increase in
threats to international and Colombian accompanying
organizations, which was very troubling. The Ambassador said
the USG took threats to human rights workers very seriously,
and would raise the issue with the GOC because the secure
presence of NGOs was good for Colombia. Sanchez asked the
Ambassador to make a public statement supporting the creation
of "self protection mechanisms" like Peace Communities or
Humanitarian Zones. The Ambassador said while that would be
difficult he would look into it, and would continue to
support the fundamental goal of institutional strengthening,
which should provide a neutral space for dialogue.
DRUCKER