PLAN COLOMBIA IMPLEMENTATION ROUND-UP, JANUARY, 2005

id: 27360
date: 2/18/2005 19:48
refid: 05BOGOTA1604
origin: Embassy Bogota
classification: SECRET
destination:
header:
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.



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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 BOGOTA 001604

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2014
TAGS: PREL PGOV SNAR MASS PREF EAID KJUS CO
SUBJECT: PLAN COLOMBIA IMPLEMENTATION ROUND-UP, JANUARY,
2005

Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (U) The following is an update of Plan Colombia-related
activities reported during January, 2005.

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DOJ/ICITAP
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2. (U) From January 25-28, the DOJ International Criminal
Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) and U.S.
Secret Service (USSS) presented a Financial Crimes Electronic

SIPDIS
Evidence Collection Seminar in Bogota. Twenty-five Colombian
law enforcement and intelligence personnel received training
in the collection and preservation of digital evidence seized
from electronic devices such as computers, PDAs, and digital
cameras. ICITAP and USSS donated equipment to these agencies
to outfit five computer laboratories.

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DOJ/JSRP
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3. (U) In January, Colombia began to implement a new Criminal
Procedure Code, which introduces an accusatory criminal
justice system. The Code will be implemented gradually, with
the judicial districts of Armenia, Bogota, Manizales and
Pereira introducing the code in 2005. The initial
impressions and media coverage of operations under the new
Code have been very positive (see para. 11 regarding USG
assistance).

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MILGROUP
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4. (C) On January 4, ongoing problems with the Military Penal
Justice (MPJ) system moved into the public eye when the
leading daily "El Tiempo" reported that the President's legal
officer was considering annexing Military Justice to the
Prosecutor General's office. Emboffs from Political,
MILGROUP and DAO have met weekly to discuss plans for
immediate and long-term reform of the Military Penal Justice
(MPJ),with the Office of the SOUTHCOM Judge's Advocate
(SCSJA),the MILGROUP Legal Liaison Officer (LNO),and MPJ
Director Brigadier General (BG) Luis Fernando Puentes Torres
Girlado. Although it looks like the report was more of a
threat than a reality, MPJ Puentes has taken steps toward
reform and asked for advice on the best way to transfer court
procedures to an accusatorial system, create an investigative
laboratory, and establish an administrative process for
in-service misdemeanors.


5. (C) Embassy plans to assist the COLMIL over the next year
to implement a plan to reform military justice system
adjudications, and to advise COLMIL officials during the
legislative consideration process. The new system must have
effective mechanisms for fact-finding and investigations,
prosecution of cases, and swift decision-making and
sentencing by judges. BG Puentes acknowledged that the
current MPJ system is not designed to do these things well,
and is straining under the weight of backlogged cases. He
also concurred that if he does not change the system soon,
COLMIL could be forced to move some or all of MPJ under the
purview of the GOC civilian legal structure. BG Puentes
developed a six-point plan to improve the MPJ system. The
LNO's highest priority is now to advise and assist BG Puentes
and his staff on this plan. MILGROUP has also requested that
SCSJA advise and assist COLMIL to develop strategies to
improve these core legal justice competencies. The Political
section has offered suggestions on improving the
communication mechanisms, especially for military cases
involving civilians' human rights. MILGROUP is working with
DOJ representatives in the Embassy who are currently
assisting the GOC with reform of the civilian legal system.
MILGROUP and SCSJA began analyzing the COLMIL legal reform
plan as the first step in this process.


6. (C) In January, Admiral Luis Fernando Yance Villamil,
Colombian Marines (COLMAR) Commandant, held a conference of
all Brigade and Battalion Commanders (Cdrs) in Bogota.
Admiral Mauricio Soto Gomez, Colombian Navy (COLNAV)
Commandant, opened the event with his vision for the future
of the COLMAR. Adm Yance stressed the value of the
non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and sergeant majors
(SgtMajs). During the conference the SgtMaj of the COLMAR
sat next to Yance and participated as a key leader in the
event. Yance directed that Battalion and Brigade Cdrs will
turn over as much as possible of the day-to-day running of
the battalion to the SgtMaj so that they can focus on
operations and training. Admirals Soto and Yance made the
following comments and directives:

-- Each Battalion or Brigade will use a new database to
inventory every piece of equipment that they own and justify
how they acquired the items. This will become the baseline
to reduce corruption and illegal procurement or sales
practices.

-- Cdrs must stop skimming funds from the food budget to
purchase other items for the base.

-- A new personnel program will target promotion of the best
conscripts through the ranks of professional,
non-commissioned officer (NCO),and officer.

-- Adm Yance has received a petition from about 40 Army
officers wishing to switch to the COLMAR.

-- The COLMAR goal for recruitment is to increase from 20,100
to 23,000 Marines by the end of CY05.

-- Unit cdrs must take responsibility for training. With the
help of the Traditional Commander Activity (TCA) training
event that the U.S. Naval Mission (NAVMIS) is conducting, a
COLMAR-wide training management program will be established.

-- Any officer who is overweight and out of shape past July
will not be promoted.

-- The Second Brigade will be transformed to a Riverine
Brigade. Adm Yance discussed implications, outlined the way
ahead, and discussed the plan to place new outposts on the
remaining rivers on Colombia's borders with Brazil and
Venezuela.

-- Cdrs must maintain a log of all events and begin to create
After Action Reports to be compiled at the Covenas Doctrine
Division (CDD),a planning think-tank for COLMIL. The CDD
will analyze lessons learned and create new tactics and
procedures to counter FARC/AUC actions as they evolve. The
COLMAR continues its progressive transformation and is
setting the standard for change in the COLMIL.


7. (S) On January 8-10 Major General (MG) Carlos Alberto
Fracica Naranja, Commander of Joint Task Force Omega (JTF-O),
conducted a commander's conference at Larandia, the first
meeting to bring the new JTF-O staff and commanders together
since the December turnover of personnel. While praising MG
Reinaldo Castellanos Trujillo's prior efforts, Fracica made
it clear the operation has entered a new phase in which he
believes the FARC will attempt to avoid contact or combat in
order to reorganize, resupply and reconstitute until they
have rebuilt the combat power to conduct offensive
operations. He emphasized that neutralizing the FARC
infrastructure is the key to success for the national
campaign and that his subordinate commanders must be more
aggressive in their execution of operations. At the tactical
level, he emphasized the need for small unit (platoon and
below),special and integrated air. He also said
psychological operations and civil affairs should be
integrated into all tactical operations. He stated the JTF's
strategic objectives are to gain territorial control, gain
support of the local populace, block FARC mobility corridors,
kill or capture a secretariat-level high value target (HVT),
and force demobilization of the FARC in the JTF area of
operations.
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NAS
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8. (U) In January, The Embassy coordinated the eleventh
annual Aerial Eradication Verification process. The
three-week verification mission collected soil and water
samples from hundreds of locations where aerial spraying had
been conducted in recent months. The mission was conducted
by USDA and GOC scientists, with assistance from INL, NAS
Bogota, the Colombian National Police, other GOC officials,
and OAS CICAD observers. The mission's objective was to
determine the environmental effects, if any, of our aerial
spraying program, as required by both U.S. and GOC law. In
the course of collecting field samples the evaluators also
made observations regarding replanting, and other measures
undertaken by narcoterrorists to counter eradication
activities.

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RSO
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9. (U) Anti-Kidnapping Program (AKI): Four instructors and
the Acting Program Manager arrived on January 19 in
preparation for the start of the next six-week Crisis
Response Training (CRT) at the Anti-Terrorism Assistance
Program (ATA) CRT training facility at the Colombian National
Police (CNP) tactical training base in Sibate. The program
has still not received the equipment and weapons for the
previous four courses trained. Once they arrive, a refresher
course for the trained units will be conducted.


10. (U) VIP Personal Protection Training Program: The MOD's
dignitary protection team will graduate from a two-week
training course on January 21. The entire personal
protection team of the MOD has now been trained.

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USAID
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11. (U) On January 12, Vice President Francisco Santos,
USAID/Colombia Director Michael Deal, and U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) Director John Shaw visited the Phytosanitary Center
of Excellence (CEF) in Bogota. As directed by Santos, the
Ministry of Agriculture established a committee to develop a
strategy to promote the export of Colombian fruits and
vegetables to the U.S., to take advantage of the CEF
protocols, and to achieve USD $1 billion in exports over the
next ten years. The CEF promotes the export of fresh
agricultural products to the U.S. by conducting pest risk
analyses and utilizing geographic information systems for
plant pest surveillance. Since July 2002, USAID has
contributed a total of USD $1 million to organize, equip, and
staff the CEF in Bogota. USDA/APHIS is providing the
technical assistance for this project.


12. (U) To prepare Colombia for the transition to an oral,
accusatorial justice system -- officially rolled out on
January 1 -- USAID designed and constructed 35 specialized
oral courtrooms. The courtrooms are furnished and equipped
for public hearings and trials. USAID has also trained in
oral procedures (required by the new system) to 123 law
professors and 1,349 criminal justice system operators,
including public defenders, inspectors and judges. Only one
month after being implemented in jurisdictions in Bogota,
Manizales, Pereira and Armenia, statistics show that:

-- police are making fewer frivolous arrests;

-- scarce resources of courtrooms, prosecutors and public
defenders are being focused on more serious crimes;

-- 66 percent of all cases arraigned in the first month of
operation were plea bargained and therefore will not require
costly and time-consuming trials; and

-- cases that once took years to be processed are now being
adjudicated in days.


13. (U) In January, USAID and Colombian clothing manufacturer
DELMYP started the implementation of a training and job
placement program. The program will benefit 100 displaced
and vulnerable people from the municipality of Soacha,
Cundinamarca (just south of the city of Bogota),with
full-time employment and health benefits. DELMYP, a company
with a long history in textiles and clothing production, will
be able to guarantee a minimum job placement rate of 90
percent. To date, USAID's internally displaced persons
(IDPs) program has assisted roughly 2.2 million IDPs with
medium- and long-term assistance.


14. (U) Under its Human Rights Program, USAID signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for up to USD $1 million
with the Inspector General's (IG's) Office. The MOU aims to
strengthen the IG's preventive and disciplinary functions
with activities such as expansion of the IG's human rights
violations tracking system and oversight of the
demobilization and reincorporation process.
WOOD

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