GOC EFFORTS TO WORK WITH JUSTICE AND PEACE VICTIMS

UNCLAS BOGOTA 004329 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KJUS PGOV PINR PREL PTER CO SUBJECT: GOC EFFORTS TO WORK WITH JUSTICE AND PEACE VICTIMS -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. The Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalia),Inspector General's Office (Procuraduria),Ombudsman (Defensoria),and National Reconciliation and Reparations Commission have to date helped over 80,000 victims of violence to come forward with information on crimes allegedly committed by former paramilitaries. The GOC is preparing a Victims Protection Plan that would strengthen protection for participants in the Justice and Peace Law process. End summary. -------------- Fiscalia's JPL Unit Support for Victims -------------- ¶2. Justice and Peace Law Unit Director Luis Gonzalez told poloff on June 7 that his office in the Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalia) has gathered information on alleged former paramilitary crimes from over 60,000 victims of violence. The Unit is expanding its call center for victims and is hiring personnel to assist them in filing claims against the demobilized. The Unit is organizing the televised transmission of former paramilitaries' voluntary confessions (versions libres) so victims do not have to travel too far and to protect them from being targeted. For example, in Medellin, victims will not sit in a viewing room at the Justice Building were the version libres take place, but instead will be provided with a closed-circuit broadcast of the proceedings at the city's Exhibition and Convention Center. In addition, the JPL Unit in Barranquilla is implementing a pilot project to provide psychological counseling to victims and witnesses present during the version libre process. -------------- Ombudsman Creates New JPL/Victims Unit -------------- ¶3. The Ombudsman (Defensoria),through its regional and sectional offices, has to date assisted more than 5,000 victims and registered their cases with the Fiscalia. The Defensoria's Victims Unit primarily consists of public defenders charged with providing legal representation to victims. In the next two months, the Defensoria will train 150 of its officials nationwide in legal and other procedures to assist victims and in international reparations standards. It also plans to produce and distribute brochures on victim assistance as part of a publicity campaign it is developing jointly with the Procuraduria. The Defensoria will receive USD 450,000 from the USG to help finance its operations through 2008. -------------- CNRR Seeking and Working with Victims -------------- ¶4. The National Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (CNRR) has so far assisted close to 11,000 JPL victims in nine regions of the country. Through public meetings and community work, the CNRR has identified groups, foundations, and other private sector entities willing to participate in the CNRR's Victims Attention Network of civil society actors, as well as to provide training in the judicial component or "ruta juridical" of the JPL process. Five CNNR regional offices have opened in Medellin, Sincelejo, Bogota, Bucaramanga and Barranquilla, and two additional offices in Putumayo and Neiva will be open by the end of the year. These offices function as information centers, as well as referral centers for the Victims' Attention Network. The CNRR also has a website that is updated daily with relevant information on JPL and victims' participation in the process. ¶5. On reparations, the CNRR is consulting with ten targeted communities for pilot reparations projects. It is also working with the Reparations Fund Database, administered by Accion Social. The database helps track assets seized through the JPL process, as well as other forfeited assets turned over for reparations, funds provided from the national budget, international donor funds, etc. USG support to the CNRR is USD 2.5 million through 2007. -------------- Procuraduria Training -------------- ¶6. The Inspector General's Office (Procuraduria) is training its regional personnel on their role in implementing the JPL. The training focuses on international standards related to the victims' rights to truth, justice and reparations; due process guarantees; and the role of public defenders in the JPL process. Other Procuraduria initiatives include: (1) a study to evaluate all public policies pertaining to the protection of victims of the internal armed conflict, including but not limited to those involved in the JPL process; (2) a guide to reparations, both individual and collective, which has been distributed to Procuraduria officials and to JPL judges for their consideration; and (3) the launch of a publicity campaign to inform victims of their rights under JPL. The Procuraduria will receive a total of USD 540,000 from the USG through 2008. -------------- Civil Society Groups Request USG Assistance -------------- ¶7. Sixteen civil society groups in eight main cities have requested USG support to provide legal and psycho-social assistance to victims of human rights abuses committed by demobilized paramilitary groups. Projects include an agreement with Fundacion Pais Libre to provide legal and psycho-social assistance to victims, including more than 400 internally displaced persons, in Monteria, Cordoba department, and training courses on the JPL, international criminal law, and transitional justice issues for attorneys and other victims' representatives. Two hundred attorneys and advisors will participate in these events. Total USG support for victims groups through 2008 is USD 530,000. -------------- National Victims' Protection Plan -------------- ¶8. Vice Minister of Justice Guillermo Reyes told poloff on June 5 the Inter-Institutional Committee on the Justice and Peace Law, which consists of high-level representatives from every GOC entity involved the JPL process, is working on a proposal for a National Victims' Protection Plan. The Committee is designing protocols to improve the overall GOC victim protection programs and eliminate bureaucratic gaps. The National Police have been assigned to provide "first responder" protection to victims in JPL cases who have received threats or who are at high risk for cooperating with the authorities. The Ministry of Interior and Justice is working to offer medium-term protective measures for victims in JPL cases and provide protection for leaders of victims' organizations who have been threatened. The Prosecutor General's Office will protect JPL witnesses. The Committee has also decided to immediately increase security to victims attending version libres given by demobilized paramilitary leaders, and the next couple of months it will set up a Victims' Information System to enable the different GOC agencies involved in the JPL process to monitor cases and obtain information about victims. Drucker