MONTESINOS LEGAL REQUEST FOR EMBASSY FILES

UNCLAS LIMA 000748

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KJUS PE
SUBJECT: MONTESINOS LEGAL REQUEST FOR EMBASSY FILES

Sensitive but Unclassified. Please handle accordingly.


1. (U) This is an action request. Please see para 5.


2. (U) SUMMARY: Post has received a four-inch thick legal
assistance request from the lawyer representing Vladimiro
Montesinos, convicted, ex-intelligence advisor for former
President Alberto Fujimori. The 110 page cover letter, also
sent to intelligence bodies in the U.S., asks Post to release
and share Embassy files related specifically to the
Montesinos and Aybar Cancho brothers arms trafficking case
and generally to intelligence cooperation between the
countries during Montesinos' tenure. Post requests guidance
on how to respond to the letter from Montesinos' lawyer. END
SUMMARY.


3. (U) On 2/6 the Ambassador received a bound letter from
lawyer Estela Valdivia Alvarez and her client Vladimiro
Montesinos Torres, copies of which were also sent to the
Senate Intelligence Committee, the Director for National
Intelligence, the Director of the Central Intelligence
Agency, the National Security Adviser, and the First Special
Superior Court of Lima. The letter asks the Ambassador: 1)
to renounce the inviolability of the Embassy's files and
documents related to the Montesinos and Aybar Cancho brothers
arms trafficking case and those related to cooperation
between the U.S. intelligence agency and the Peruvian
intelligence agency during Montesinos' tenure, and; 2) to
provide the aforementioned information to Montesinos and his
lawyer. In the request, the letter specifically references
Case 38-2001 in the First Special Superior Court of Lima
presided by Judge Ines Felipa Villa Bonilla for the crime of
trafficking arms from Jordan to the FARC in Colombia in 1999.



4. (U) In addition to the letter, the package includes four
bound annexes of supporting documentation totaling another
850 pages. The letter provides detailed background on the
Peruvian intelligence agency (SIN); its accomplishments in
counternarcotics operations in coordination with the USG; USG
counternarcotics support managed by the SIN; an Intelligence
Plan known as "Siberia"; an overview of the SIN operations
involving the Aybar Cancho brothers; and details of meetings
between Montesinos and ORA representatives. In the letter
Montesinos refutes the charges against him in the specific
Aybar Cancho brothers case. The annexes include supporting
documentation referenced in the letter such as: the
Constitution and statutes of the International
Counternarcotics Network (RIAN),letters of congratulations
from USG officials to the SIN on counternarcotics operations,
the "Siberia" intelligence plan, and "Siberia" monthly
progress reports, among many other Peruvian intelligence
documents related to the case and to joint U.S.-Peru
operations.


5. (U) Action: Please advise Post how to respond to the
request for information from Embassy files. If a copy of the
bound letter or its annexes is required, please contact Pablo
Valdez (valdezpm2@state.gov, IVG 549-2515) as early as
possible to facilitate copying the material.


6. (SBU) Comment: Post is not aware of any USG interest that
would be served by complying with Montesinos' request. End
Comment.
STRUBLE