JUSTICE AND PEACE UNIT OPENS FOR BUSINESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 009440

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/04/2015
TAGS: KJUS PTER PREL PGOV CO
SUBJECT: JUSTICE AND PEACE UNIT OPENS FOR BUSINESS

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

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) Justice and Peace (J&P) Specialized Unit Chief Luis
Gonzalez in the Prosecutor's Office (Fiscalia) told Emboffs
September 27 that the unit would be open for business the
week of October 3. Gonzalez will have 8 of 20 prosecutors
available on October 3; he hopes to appoint remaining members
as soon as possible. Gonzalez characterized a recent GOC
trip to Brussels to promote the Justice and Peace (J&P) law
as positive, and said he needed additional funds to ensure
the long-term success of the unit. End Summary.


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J&P Unit Opens for Business
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2. (C) Gonzalez told Emboffs he would open for business the
week of October 3 in dedicated office space with eight
experienced prosecutors. Another six have been identified
and Gonzalez hopes they can start work as soon as possible.
He said he has asked Prosecutor General Iguaran for
permission to promote six assistant prosecutors to complete
the 20 required under the J&P law. About 15 of the 20 will
work in Bogota, with the remainder likely based in Cartagena.
He has made a proposal to Iguaran to assign every prosecutor
three junior prosecutors and five investigators. He would
like the U.S. to begin its training of the prosecutors on
October 10.


3. (C) Gonzalez said the J&P Unit has a listing of 10,395 AUC
members who collectively demobilized, 3,427 AUC members who
individually demobilized, and an estimated 4,000 other
individually demobilized illegal group members (mostly FARC
members.) Of the 10,395 AUC collective members, the
Fiscalia's Corps of Technical Investigators (CTI) have
identification information -- such as dental records, DNA
sample, photographs, and fingerprints -- on 7,285 of them.
The unit sent a request at the end of August to several
government entities, including NGOs, for information on these
individuals. The unit has only received information from two
local NGOs, and "insufficient" information from the DAS. The
unit has sent another request for the DAS to share all
relevant information.


4. (C) Gonzalez said the unit is working on a database that
will have the capacity to hold information from the various
government entities on these individuals. Emboffs suggested
looking into the USG/NAS's assisted individualized
demobilization database system, which has taken over a year
to complete and has the capability to do link analysis.
Gonzalez was receptive of the idea.


5. (C) Gonzalez explained that the unit would require a
substantial additional allocation of resources, including
hardware such as phones, computers, fax machines, and tape
recorders. These resources cannot come from existing
Fiscalia units, he said, but must rather be purchased. He
provided a copy to Emboffs of the equipment budget request he
had previously submitted to Iguaran for his consideration
(approximately USD 13 million),as well as budget
calculations for the unit's travel expenses (USD 1.7 million)
and witness protection costs (USD 14.5 million) for 2006.
Gonzalez was aware that the amount he is requesting is
significant, but he emphasized that for the unit to do what
is expected to do, it needs resources.

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Status of J&P law Implementation Framework
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6. (U) The Ministry of Justice and Interior (MJI) is heading
an interagency effort to develop regulations to implement the
J&P law. Gonzalez informed Emboffs that the Fiscalia has
been actively participating in this process, through ongoing
review and comments to the proposed regulations.

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Positive Trip to Brussels
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7. (U) Gonzalez characterized as positive the GOC's September
21-23 visit to Brussels to promote the J&P law. The GOC team
included Vice President Francisco Santos, National
Reconciliation and Reparations Commission President Eduardo
Pizarro, former Bogota Mayor Antanus Mockus, and Gonzalez.
Over one thousand participants attended a forum held on
demobilization and the J&P law, with representatives from
various EU governments, civil society, and NGOs. He cited
two anecdotes as examples of the overall positive atmosphere
of the meetings: 1) a number of commentators recognized that
even though the J&P law is not perfect, it is the first peace
process law adopted during an ongoing conflict that tries to
address justice and reparations to victims; and 2) EU members
supported the GOC by arguing that Europe should control more
effectively the flow of arms to Colombia's terrorist groups
instead of only pressing the GOC to trace weapons to criminal
activity as part of the demobilization process.

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COMMENT
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8. (C) Embassy will meet with DAS Director Noguera to express
our discontent at the DAS failure to share data with the
Fiscalia, and seek his agreement to be more forthcoming. The
information that the Fiscalia is requesting is extensive and
requires substantial computerization.
WOOD