UNHCHR INTERNAL REPORT ASSESSES SAN JOSE DE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 006594 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2017 TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS CO SUBJECT: UNHCHR INTERNAL REPORT ASSESSES SAN JOSE DE APARTADO SECURITY SITUATION REF: A. BOGOTA 10898 ¶B. BOGOTA 3625 ¶C. BOGOTA 5672 Classified By: Political Counselor John S. Creamer. Reason: 1.4(b,d) ¶1. (C) Summary: A local United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCHR) report on San Jose de Apartado (SJDA) highlights differences between the Peace Community's (PC) version of recent killings and accounts provided by the Prosecutor General (Fiscalia),Human Rights Ombudsman (Defensoria),United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR),and local police. The report suggests the PC is manipulating information to gain international attention in an effort to recover its declining political influence in the area. The PC's refusal to cooperate with the GOC and local authorities--including refusing social services--has led many PC members to leave. The UNHCHR will continue to track the security situation in Apartado. End Summary. ¶2. (C) A local UNHCHR report assesses the security situation of the Peace Community (PC) of San Jose de Apartado that includes San Josesito (or La Holandita),La Esperanza, La Union and Arenas Altas. The report reflects the findings of a UNHCHR mission that traveled to San Jose de Apartado July 30-31 to investigate the security situation after recent killings of former PC members. The UNHCHR met with PC members, Peace Brigade International representatives, military and police officials, local authorities including the Defensoria del Pueblo and Fiscalia, as well as with the loca UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) representative. -------------- Conflicting Versions of Recent Killings -------------- ¶3. (C) The UNHCHR report says PC members and local authorities gave sharply differing accounts of recent murders in the area. In the case of Francisco Puerta, Father Javier Giraldo Moreno, who is connected to the community, claims Puerta was killed on May 14, 2007 at a bus stop in Apartado because he was a PC leader. In contrast, local police, UNHCR, and the Defensoria say Puerta was killed in a "public establishment" in Apartado, not the bus terminal. They also note the PC expelled Puerta in March 2004 after he drunkenly attacked a fellow San Jose de Apartado resident with a machete. The victim survived and vowed revenge. Puerta was living on his own in Apartado at the time of his death. The UNHCHR speculates that the PC claims Puerta was killed at the terminal due to a December 17, 2004 Interamerican Human Rights Court (IHRC) resolution requiring the GOC to "effectively guarantee security to the PC, including in..transportation terminals." ¶4. (C) Similarly, the UNHCHR says the PC claims Dario Torres was a coordinator of the Alto Bonito humanitarian zone which is part of the PC. PC leaders allege two paramilitaries dressed in civilian clothes forcibly removed Torres from a bus traveling between Apartado and San Jose de Apartado on July 13 and murdered him. The PC contends the killers were seen talking to police near the murder site earlier that day. This account differs from that of Accion Social officials who say the driver of the bus found Torres' body on the road. The local Fiscal, Defensor, and police report Torres was expelled from the PC two years ago for alcoholism. Torres' sister provided a written statement corroborating Torres' expulsion. -------------- Peace Community Increasingly Isolates Itself -------------- ¶5. (C) In the UNHCHR report, the Defensoria says the PC cut off all cooperation with the GOC in 2005, arguing the GOC was not responsive to its human rights concerns. The PC's rejection of any state assistance, including education, deprives members of basic services and has left them frustrated with falling living standards. With increased GOC provision of health and housing services to local residents, many families have opted to leave the community. The Defensoria told UNHCHR the PC's population is down from 250 families one and a half years ago to 100 families today (50 in La Holandita and 50 in La Union). The UNHCHR attributes the PC's apparent manipulation of the facts surrounding Puerta's and Torres' murders to its effort to gain international attention to help it recover its declining political influence. ¶6. (C) The Defensoria adds that two years ago--at the PC's request--it assigned a Defensor, Ruben Diaz, to San Jose de Apartado, with responsibility for over 1200 families in the area. Diaz was told to focus especially on the PC's concerns. The Defensoria says PC leaders refused to cooperate with Diaz after he decided to live in San Jose de Apartado instead of in the community. PC leaders were also unhappy with Diaz's efforts to increase social services for all local residents. The PC only wanted him to focus on advancing its legal and political agenda. The UNHCHR says the PC's relationship with the UNHCR is also limited due to its demand that UNHCR go through its leaders before contacting PC members. -------------- Tensions With Police on the Rise -------------- ¶7. (C) The UNHCHR says tensions between the local police and the PC are growing as both parties accuse each other of foul play. On July 9, 2007, FARC snipers in civilian attire killed a policeman in San Jose de Apartado. The police believe the FARC escaped into La Holandita, but did not enter the grounds out of respect for the community. The PC believes local police want revenge on the community due to this incident and point to Dairo Torres' death. ¶8. (C) After the July 9 incident, UNHCHR says the police planned to search the PC but decided against it. Still, the PC claims three of its leaders were harassed at a checkpoint by plain clothes policemen on July 20. The police later informed the PC that the plain clothes police were SIJIN (police investigative unit) investigating the Torres murder. On July 27, a police vehicle was ambushed by FARC guerrillas 600 meters from La Holandita, with one police killed. The police suspect the PC is connected to this attack as well. ¶9. (C) The UNHCHR fears the increasing distrust between the PC and police could escalate, especially if the police enter La Holandita (which it has the right to do). Post will coordinate efforts with UNHCHR as it continues to track the security situation in Apartado. Separately, Poloffs attended a meeting on September 11 with an OAS-led international delegation and Carlos Franco, Director of the Presidential Human Rights Office. The delegation relayed concerns regarding human rights and security for the PC as a follow-up to our August visit to San Jose de Apartado. Franco assured us security for the entire Apartado region, including the PC, is an important objective. Poloff will visit Apartado next week to underscore our interest in the PC and security in the region. Brownfield