POST WELCOMES AUTHORIZATION TO SUPPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BOGOTA 005167

SIPDIS

WHA PLEASE PASS TO USAID'S MIKE MAGAN AND BETH HOGAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PTER PGOV PREL CO
SUBJECT: POST WELCOMES AUTHORIZATION TO SUPPORT
DEMOBILIZATION PROGRAMS

REF: SECSTATE 72426

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Summary
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1. Post welcomes reftel and will use it as authorization to
give support to specific aspects of the GOC's
demobilization/reintegration program for former AUC members,
including: (1) monitoring and evaluation, (2) Reference and
Orientation Centers (CROs),and (3) judicial and
inter-institutional coordination. Direct assistance will not
be given to former AUC members. Paragraph six offers a
detailed description of each aspect to be funded. End
Summary.

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Focus on Improving the Process
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2. USG support to certain demobilization/reintegration
aspects will have a direct impact on dismantling the AUC's
terrorist and drug trafficking structure. Our involvement
will help ensure that demobilized paramilitaries are
thoroughly tracked and held accountable for any recidivism;
that the CROs are well-run and staffed by the appropriate
judicial and social service agencies; and that government and
legal authorities involved in the peace process coordinate
their actions to hold former paramilitaries to the program's
standards.


3. In part because of our inability to support
demobilization/reintegration thus far, the program still has
some shortfalls. The GOC has emphasized its commitment to
fully dismantling the AUC and preventing former
paramilitaries from returning to criminal life. It has
designed mechanisms to prohibit demobilized individuals
implicated in major crimes from receiving reintegration
benefits and to keep track of reintegration participants.
However, funding shortfalls and inexperience have made
implementation difficult.

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High-Level Committment
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4. We have discussed these implementation problems with the
GOC, including at the Ambassadorial level. In January, the
Ambassador hosted a meeting with the Minister of
Interior/Justice, Prosecutor General, Peace Commissioner,
Vice Defense Minister, and other principals and their
deputies involved in demobilization to underscore the
importance of close government management of
demobilization/reintegration. The Colombian officials
expressed interest in U.S. guidance and assistance in
implementing control mechanisms.


5. Successful implementation of demobilization/reintegration
programs is key to a lasting peace process. Post will use the
USD 1.75 million to broaden and improve the monitoring and
control aspects of demobilization/reintegration without
providing direct assistance to former AUC members.

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The Details
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6. Below is a description of the programs that will receive
funding:

-- Accompaniment, Monitoring, and Evaluation System (SAME)
(Previously referred to as the Tracking, Monitoring and
Evaluation System (TMES))(USD 568,000): The SAME is an
integrated information system designed to assess each
ex-combatant's degree of reincorporation into civil society
or risk of returning to illegal conduct, including
re-association with a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).
Post will use the SAME to determine if USAID-funded
reincorporation benefits must be halted to a specific
individual to avoid violation of U.S. law preventing
provision of "material benefits" to FTO members. SAME also
provides GOC reincorporation program managers with
assessments of specific reincorporation activities to
determine which are successful or need to be adjusted or
abandoned.
Given the close relationship between the SAME and the CROS,
the operational costs of the CROs are included in the SAME
budget line item, which covers the 11 regional offices and a
central office in Bogota. The GOC "Peace Fund" is covering
approximately half of the overall cost of operating the 11
regional CROs (approximately USD 250,000 per CRO per year).
Additional GOC support covers the salaries of the personnel
assigned from government institutions. Each CRO will be
staffed by SAME officials, contracted by IOM and paid for by
USAID, who will input data into the system during
ex-combatant visits to the CRO and from other information
sources, including ex-combatant house-visits by SAME
personnel and feedback from community leaders and
reincorporation program operators, e.g., a vocational
training school instructor.

-- Survey and Registration, and Strengthening and Expanding
CROs (USD 525,000): With USAID support, the GOC surveys and
registers combatants during the pre-demobilization
concentration phase. The survey provides personal
information; e.g., age, birthplace, etc., as well as
expectations and desires relative to reincorporation into
civil society; e.g., where ex-combatants plan to live during
the reincorporation phase. All data is put into the SAME
database. Registration involves photographing and
fingerprinting each combatant and issuing a special
identification card. Ex-combatants must present the card
whenever they visit the CROs to receive reincorporation
program benefits.

The CROs are the physical and programmatic point of contact
between GOC reincorporation program officials and every
ex-combatant. Six CROs are now operational with another five
planned in areas where ex-combatants are anticipated to
reside during the reincorporation phase. CROs will be managed
by the Ministry of Interior and Justice, and staffed by
Ministry personnel and others from various GOC institutions;
e.g., the Attorney General's Office, National Registrar,
Ministry of Health, etc.

-- Census of Demobilized Individuals and Publishing of
Information Package (USD 157,000): GOC officials have planned
a census of individuals in the reincorporation program, in
particular to update information on the seven percent or so
with whom authorities have had no recorded contact since
demobilization. Individuals will be asked to confirm their
current residence and contact information, number of family
members, national health program enrollment, and current
livelihood activities. The census will also be used to
broaden the profiling of individuals in terms of background,
capabilities, plans and interest in order to develop more
precise psycho-social assistance and vocational training
programs. The information package to be distributed during
the census contains consolidated and up-to-date information
on all aspects of the reincorporation program, including the
requirement to participate in SAME or risk losing program
benefits.

-- Civil Education and Community Outreach (USD 250,000): This
new program is directed at both ex-combatants and the
communities into which they are reincorporating, and will
implemented by a Colombian NGO under the direction of the OAS
Trust of the Americas, an experienced international
institution. The program will be primarily implemented via
community radio programming covering the areas where
reincorporating ex-combatants are concentrated, and will be
developed to assist community residents in better
understanding the reincorporation program. It will include
call-in programs for CRO offidials to address concerns and
questions. Civil education courses and materials designed for
ex-combatants will also be offered at the CROs.

-- Improving Judicial Processing and Coordination Support
(USD 75,000): provided for strengthening inter-institutional
coordination for vetting and adjudicating eligibility of the
demobilized for pardons and reintegration program benefits.
While the vetting role centers on prosecutorial and judicial
functions, it is nevertheless is highly dependent on
inter-institutional collaboration and coordination between
other non-judicial GOC entities.

Technical assistance to prosecutors and judges will expedite
the judicial review and processing required of ex-combatants,
beginning in the city of Medellin, where nearly 250
ex-combatants are still in legal limbo nearly 18 months after
their demobilization. Lessons learned from this pilot effort
will then be applied to the reincorporation program
throughout Colombia. This activity will be implemented by
USAID,s existing rule-of-law implementing partner,
sub-contracted by IOM, and involve a working group made up of
cognizant GOC institutions.

-- Enhancing Citizen Security and Crime Prevention (USD
175,000): This activity will involve working with local
police commanders and elected officials in primary
reincorporation areas (Uraba, Norte de Santander, and
Cordoba) to strengthen programs to prevent crime and
violence, which international experience has shown can surge
in association with combatant demobilizations. This activity
will also be implemented by a current implementing partner,
Georgetown University, already engaged in citizen security
programming in Colombia.
WOOD