URIBE ORDERS POLICE TO ESCORT PARAMILITARY LEADERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 007495 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2016 TAGS: KJUS PGOV PINR PREL PTER CO SUBJECT: URIBE ORDERS POLICE TO ESCORT PARAMILITARY LEADERS TO POLICE STATIONS REF: BOGOTA 7458 Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) President Uribe ordered the Police to take into custody 26 paramilitary leaders after his August 14 ultimatum to para leaders that they should turn themselves in to authorities. As of mid-day on August 16, the Police had escorted 10 of the 26 leaders to local police stations. A GOC official said Uribe's ultimatum was prompted by his frustration with the paras objections to the Justice and Peace Law and his determination to start the justice phase of the process. Paramilitary leader Ernesto Baez publicly warned that the peace negotiations with the GOC were in a "grave crisis" and, given the Constitutional Court's July 13 ruling on the Justice and Peace Law, no paramilitary would be willing to submit themselves to justice. Baez called for a "constituent assembly" or a new law to address para concerns. End summary. ¶2. (C) Following his August 14 statement instructing paramilitary leaders to turn themselves in, President Uribe ordered the Police to escort 26 such leaders into custody. Police Intelligence officials told us that as of mid-day on August 16, the Police had taken 10 of the 26 AUC leaders they were ordered to find, including Ernesto Baez, Salvatore Mancuso, Carlos Mario Jimenez (AKA "Macaco"),Ramon Isaza, and Julian Bolivar. The Police were taking the para leaders to the central police commands in the areas where the AUC leaders where found until further notice from the President. The COLMIL's Director of Intelligence told us August 15 that if Uribe gave them the green light, the COLMIL had a pre-established plan to attack 23 identified paramilitary locations around the country. ¶3. (C) A GOC official familiar with the dynamics behind President Uribe's press statement on August 14 said Uribe was motivated by his frustration with para objections to the Justice and Peace Law and his determination to lock the paramilitaries into the justice phase of the process. (reftel). Uribe issued his statement after heavy public criticism of a leaked draft of the Justice and Peace Law implementing decree, and following information that the para leaders were unwilling to accept conditions of imprisonment. Uribe said he was no longer willing to tolerate any additional conditions from the para leaders. The official told us Uribe's threat to extradite paras who do not comply with his statement showed his determination to move the process forward. ¶4. (C) The official said the GOC's next step was to issue the implementing decree, expected within a few days. Once issued, the Ministry of Interior and Justice will send the lists of the paramilitary members who have requested to be processed under Justice and Peace to the Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalia). After the Fiscalia receives the lists, the prosecutors will begin taking the paras' debriefings or "version libres." Immediately after taking the version libres, the paras will be placed in prisons selected by the GOC. The prosecutor must then notify a Justice and Peace magistrate, who will have 36 hours to set a hearing to notify the defendant of the charges to be investigated. The prosecutor then has up to 60 days to investigate the accusations and to formally charge the defendant. The 60-day time period can be extended to up to 120 days by court order, upon joint petition of the parties. ¶5. (C) In response to Uribe's statement on August 14, paramilitary spokesperson Ernesto Baez publicly warned that the peace negotiations with the GOC were in a "grave crisis." Baez said the paras were willing to submit themselves to the tribunals as long as the government is able to guarantee "judicial security." He added that in view of the Consitutional Court's July 13 ruling on the Justice and Peace Law, no paramilitary would be willing to submit themselves to justice. Baez called for a "constituent assembly" or a new law to address para concerns. Despite the perceived "grave crisis" among the paramilitaries, the AUC leader Freddy Rendon, AKA "El Aleman," demobilized on August 15 with the last faction of the Elmer Cardenas Bloc composed of 745 members. WOOD