FARC'S PRE-ELECTORAL ATTACKS IN SOUTHERN COLOMBIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 001887 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/04/2015 TAGS: KJUS PGOV PREL PTER CO SUBJECT: FARC'S PRE-ELECTORAL ATTACKS IN SOUTHERN COLOMBIA REF: BOGOTA 01643 Classified By: Political Counselor Jeffrey DeLaurentis. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) FARC units last week committed two civilian massacres in Caqueta and Huila Departments, resulting in a total of 17 killed and 14 injured and prompting the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights in Colombia to call the acts a war crime. At the same time, FARC Secretariat member Raul Reyes publicly claimed that the FARC does not operate outside Colombia,s borders. The FARC recent actions are in keeping with their strategy to publicly discredit President Uribe,s security policies. On February 29, Uribe announced increased security force measures. END SUMMARY. -------------- FARC Ramps-Up Civilian Attacks in the South -------------- ¶2. (U) FARC units were responsible for two civilian massacres this week in southern Colombia. A probable TFMC unit on February 24 attacked a small bus that had fallen behind its security caravan on the road between San Vincente del Caguan, and Florencia, Caqueta killing nine passengers and wounding another 14. Survivors report the attackers doused the van with gasoline and attempted to light it on fire. ¶3. (U) Colombian security officials report a TFMC unit on 25 February attacked a city council meeting in Rivera, Huila*a town located 20 minutes outside the departmental capital*killing eight councilors and four of their bodyguards. Survivors report the attackers ordered that everyone be killed. This attack marks the third TFMC attack on councilors in less than a year. The Rivera councilors had been under threat for about a year and many lived outside Rivera because of the security situation there, coming into town only for city council meetings. ¶4. (U) These attacks have been taking place amid a &paro armado8 (armed strike),which the FARC declared two weeks ago in the area. Local media reports inhabitants are facing food and fuel shortages. -------------- UNHCHR Accuses FARC of War Crimes -------------- ¶5. (U) The FARC,s recent attacks in southern Colombia have been universally condemned. The UN High Commission for Human Rights in Colombia called the bus attack &a war crime,8 and asked the GOC to repeal a proviso preventing the prosecution of these types of crimes in the International Court of Justice before 2009. Liberal Party chief Cesar Gaviria called the killings &barbaric,8 but also criticized the Uribe Administration on national radio March 1, claiming that the FARC will not be beaten by military means alone. -------------- FARC Claims Attacks Stop at the Border -------------- ¶6. (U) FARC Secretariat member Raul Reyes denied in a recent interview with Anncol, a European news outlet sympathetic to the FARC, that the insurgents operated outside Colombia. Responding to a recent article in El Tiempo, which claimed that the Ecuadorian military had clashed with the FARC in Ecuador, Reyes claimed that the FARC respects the governments of Colombia,s neighbors and said the GOC is the one trying to drag Ecuador into Colombia,s conflict. -------------- Comment: Following Through on Strategy -------------- ¶7. (C) As reported reftel, the FARC intends to use intimidation and terrorist attacks in the run-up to the congressional and presidential elections to sway voters and to discredit President Uribe and his democratic security strategy. One of Uribe,s successes has been improving security on the roads and establishing state presence throughout the country. The FARC,s recent attacks on roads and local governing institutions are likely intended to undermine public confidence in these two GOC success stories, as well as intimidate the local population. END COMMENT. WOOD