OHCHR DELEGATION VISITS SARAVENA, ARAUCA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BOGOTA 004482

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2015
TAGS: ECON PHUM PTER CO
SUBJECT: OHCHR DELEGATION VISITS SARAVENA, ARAUCA

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SUMMARY
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1. (U) On April 20, 2005, the United Nations Office of the
High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) based in Colombia
led an international delegation to Saravena in Arauca
Department to meet with government officials, NGOs, the
military, and religious groups on human rights issues. Local
NGOs, government officials, and religious groups said that
change in Arauca had to begin by placing a priority on the
safety and well-being of the people, and less on the military
aspects of GOC policy. They also called for more foreign
direct investment in the department to help meet financial
budget constraints and to assist with basic health and
education needs. GOC military efforts in the area appear to
be helping with security and stemming drug movement and
contraband to and from Venezuela, but some question their
effectiveness in the area of human rights. End Summary.

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SARAVENA CITY
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2. (U) The OHCHR in Colombia led a delegation to Saravena to
speak to government officials, NGOs, the military, and
religious groups to evaluate the human rights situation in
Arauca Department. The delegation, led by OHCHR Deputy
Director Amerigo Incalcaterra and Regional Coordinator
Roberto Desogus, included members from the European
Commission and the Governments of Austria, Switzerland,
Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, and the
United States.


3. (S) In Arauca, both paramilitary and guerrilla groups
battle one another and the government. Illicit crop
production is a source of income for subsistence farmers.
Forced displacements are common, and movement of contraband
is an important industry, since Arauca share a long border
with Venezuela, and the highway is an important crossing
point. Saravena is a small town nestled in the flat expanse
east of the Andean mountains. The city lacks sufficient
access to potable water. There are numerous military
checkpoints at each major intersection. The new city council
building is located on the second and third floors of a small
shop across the street from the main park. On both sides of
the block are military guard posts with sand bags and heavy
artillery. Half a block down is the blown out structure that
served as the city council and police barracks until two
years ago. Arauca has received approximately $2 billion
dollars in royalties from oil production over the past 15
years, but decades of corrupt administration have left the
department no better off.

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MEETING WITH CITY OFFICIALS
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4. (U) The first meeting was a town-hall style format with
the mayor, city council, regional members of the Prosecutor
General's Office (&Fiscalia8) and Inspector General's
Office (Procuraduria),and the local hospital director.
Mayor Antonio Jose Ortega Gutierrez is a short, heavyset man
in his 40s. During mayoral elections one and a half years
ago, the government jailed him for subversion and alleged
ties to the ELN. He was released after a month and cleared
of all allegations, but missed the final few weeks of
campaigning. He won anyway and launched a plan to rebuild
Saravena,s bombed-out infrastructure.


5. (U) Officials present at the meeting spoke of the links
to terrorism by subversive groups, which have attacked and
killed police and civilians. Ortega claims he has received
numerous threats and fears for his life. He boasted that
recent polls give him 86 percent public support, &higher
than any other politician in the country, including President
Uribe.8


6. (U) Regarding health and welfare concerns, Ilma Moncada,
coordinator for the Colombian Welfare Institute (ICBF),said
they have about 20 investment projects in the area, including
child development and work training. Municipal Ombudsman
Alba Ruth Nunez Lozano spoke about forced displacement,
claiming it affects mostly indigenous people outside of town.
She estimated that about 10 families were displaced in 2003,
but no figures were given for 2004. Nunez said that of the
more than 3,000 investigations undertaken in 2003, about
1,200 have "not been executed in an efficient manner,
contributing to impunity." When questioned about government
detainees, Nunez said four were currently in custody, but she
was not allowed by the military to see or speak to them. At
the same time, Nunez said there were very few human rights
abuses by the military. She characterized President Uribe's
"Plan Patriota" as "correct" and said that the "presence of
the public forces is necessary to protect us." This set the
stage for repeated requests by her, the mayor, and numerous
city council members for direct investment for human rights
support, city reconstruction, and health and education


7. (C) Roberto Desogus, the OHCHR coordinator for Arauca
based in Bucaramanga, Santander Department, said
investigative weaknesses in Saravena are caused by a lack of
physical presence by the Prosecutor General's office there.
The Prosecutor General is based in Cucuta, Norte de Santander
Department, and the absence contributes to impunity for human
rights abuses. He believes human rights abuses are primarily
perpetrated by paramilitaries and guerrillas operating
outside the city, due to the heavy police presence in town
itself during the past few years.

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MEETING WITH CIVIL SOCIETY
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8. (C) Around the corner from the new city council office is
the UN office for the area. Several leaders and members of
local NGOs working in Arauca met to discuss their work,
including the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human
Rights, the Regional Foundation Committee of Human Rights,
the Regional Institutional Strengthening Foundation Committee
of Human Rights, the Community Action Association, the
Intercultural Foundation of Sarare (FINDESA),the Youth and
Student Regional Association (ABOJER),and the Corporation
for the Defense of Human Rights, Peace, Welfare and Labor in
Sarare (CORPOVIDA). All requested more funding from the
international community. Some said the only defenders of
human rights are the public forces, who occasionally fail to
abide by these same principles. NGOs also claimed that
political polarization in the area leaves them at a
disadvantage and that the local government does not
adequately address their concerns, having convened only one
town hall meeting in the past two years.


9. (C) NGOs accused both governments of investing too much
in the Colombian military and protection of the Cano-Limon
Pipeline, and not enough in the people of Arauca. Many
claimed that paramilitaries and guerrillas have killed their
members, and the Colombian military has not been responsive.
Several NGOs blamed the Uribe Administration for creating a
"special war zone," that directly affects the indigent and
indigenous. They reiterated that Arauca is an area of &low
interest,8 calling education and health services
&terrible.8 A young male member of an unnamed NGO said
that &indiscriminate spraying8 and the chemicals used by
USG and GOC illicit crop eradication programs cause health
problems, physically affecting children and the elderly, and
creating more unemployment and poverty. However, he could
offer no specific information to substantiate his claims.
The leader of the NGO CORPOVIDA, an elderly woman who claimed
to have lost several family members to the conflict, was the
only NGO to suggest a solution to stem the tide of violence.
She spoke about starting a public education program with the
federal government to teach young children about the dangers
of war and to keep them from joining illegal armed groups.

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CITY TOUR
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10. (C) Mayor Ortega and several city council members led
the delegation on a walking tour of numerous bomb-damaged
buildings in the city. A young policeman, serving in
Saravena for the past year, demonstrated how FARC attackers
had strapped explosive devices to propane tanks and tossed
them by hand onto the roofs of the buildings to intensify the
destruction. The mayor's infrastructure advisor, Francisco
Javier Munoz, said eight people died in the first attack, and
about 20 were injured. The mayor's office, police
headquarters, a personal residence and hotel, and a building
shared by the Fiscalia and Procuraduria were destroyed. He
said two more homes were hit a year later to the date, but no
one had been harmed. Munoz said the mayor and city council
are excited about the construction of a nearby military base,
and the presence of eight Blackhawk helicopters.

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MEETING WITH CHURCH OFFICIALS
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11. (U) The delegation also met with representatives of the
Roman Catholic Church, lay persons who work on social service
issues, as well as the Bishop of Arauca, Carlos German Mesa.
The meeting took place in what functions as a grammar school,
behind a church compound and adjacent to a taxi parking lot.
The school is a shed with two walls, a metal roof, several
plastic folding chairs, and one chalkboard. The group told
stories of human rights abuses, such as assassinations, and
lack of proper resources to combat poverty and help with
education and health. Bishop Mesa said a few priests were
killed in the mid-80s and 90s, the last one in 1996. He and
the others agreed that cultivation of illicit crops aids
illegal armed groups, and draws young people to fight as
soldiers. He estimates that approximately 40 percent of all
young people in Arauca are involved in crime, and the lack of
adequate education, health care and access to food cause
large migration ) especially of indigenous ) in search of
better living conditions. Many church members and workers
referred to life in Arauca, especially Saravena, as a &tense
calm,8 explaining that although there have not been problems
in the area for some time, people believe that further
attacks will occur.


12. (U) Sister Viviana, a nun who works in Arauca, said the
&tense calm8 is compounded by an increase in the number of
extortions. Many children in rural areas die because there
is not enough health care, but more importantly because many
people ) especially the indigenous ) do not have training
in basic health. The site of numerous shops, markets, and
children and adults walking around the city square contrasted
with Sister Viviana,s claim that Sunday markets are closed
because no one has money to buy anything and residents fear
for their safety in a crowded public place. Several of the
participants said the situation in Saravena and Arauca cities
was worse years earlier, when the paramilitaries and
guerrillas were much stronger. One young priest said that
change would not occur until the people of Arauca look to
themselves as the first step towards recovery. He told
vignettes of people in the Department indifferent about life
and their future. Bishop Mesa said the people's faith is
great, and that many believe the only sanctuary is the
Church, not the state.

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MEETING WITH COLMIL
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13. (U) Colonel Luis Franco Medina of the 18th Cavalry Group
(Grupo Mecanizado No. 18 Reveiz Pizarro) discussed the
efforts of the public forces to maintain security, restore
public order, and ensure subversive groups do not enter the
city or harm civilians. Medina said the security situation
has improved under President Uribe and that, due to increased
funding and presence, the 18th Cavalry has maintained several
checkpoints in and around the town, thwarting several bomb
attacks and the movement of contraband. His group claims to
have confiscated illicit crops and drug materials amounting
to $54 million pesos (or $24,000 USD),and captured three
guerrillas in the first quarter of 2005. Executive Officer
Major Castillo said the goal of the military is to protect
human rights while upholding the national constitution. The
18th Cavalry has several public awareness campaigns with the
aim of building trust with local residents, including
picnics, a public radio program, and assistance with
anti-terrorism demonstrations in several communities. The
18th Cavalry estimates that their forces in Saravena proper
total approximately 100.


14. (C) Major Castillo said there has not been a
paramilitary presence in Saravena for one and a half years.
However, after the meeting, Mayor Ortega insisted that there
are paramilitaries in the city who are known to close down
whole blocks and charge people 100 Colombian Pesos to pass.
He claimed that paramilitaries killed a small boy in town
about one year ago.

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LOCAL HOSPITAL TREATING GUERRILLAS
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15. (C) The municipal hospital, Hospital del Sarare, is
located near the city center. It is publicly funded, has
orthopedic and nursery wings, as well as a maternity ward.
The facilities are clean and well kept. Mayor Ortega, with
several unnamed hospital officials, confirmed that the
hospital routinely treats injured guerrillas. For security
reasons, they declined to give estimates as to the number of
guerrillas treated, and said that many of the injuries are
sustained from firefights with Colombian military forces.
Ortega said none of the injured admits they are guerrillas,
but it is &common knowledge8 that they are. He believes
the city's &hands are tied8 because the national
constitution compels them to treat everyone. He further
explained that many of the guerrillas have friends among the
police or hospital doctors who allow the wounded to enter the
city to seek medical assistance.

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COMMENT
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16. (C) Arauca has relatively high foreign investment in the
petroleum sector. More investment may be possible as the
security situation improves. Arauca,s position on the
border with Venezuela gives it greater strategic importance
than it might otherwise have and also complicates the
government's efforts to secure the countryside to the extent
that narco-terrorism sneak into Venezuela for haven. Arauca
remains a high Embassy priority. End Comment.
WOOD