GOC TAKING CONCRETE STEPS TOWARDS INVESTIGATING

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 007395

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/14/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS CO
SUBJECT: GOC TAKING CONCRETE STEPS TOWARDS INVESTIGATING
EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS

Classified By: Political Counselor John S. Creamer. Reason: 1.4(b,d)


1. (SBU) Summary: An international human rights group
coalition claims there were 955 extrajudicial killings by
Colombian security forces between July 2002 and June 2007.
The Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalia) is formally
investigating 189 allegations of extrajudicial killings
involving 388 victims. These investigations have so far
resulted in 160 preventive detentions, 90 indictments and
nine convictions. The Fiscalia plans to set up a sub-section
within its Human Rights Unit dedicated to investigate such
killings. Meanwhile, the Inspector General's Office
(Procuraduria) is investigating 706 alleged extrajudicial
killings--some of which overlap with the Fiscalia's
investigations--that occurred from March 2002 to August 31,

2007. UNHCHR reports strong cooperation from the Ministry of
Defense (MOD) during its visits to seven Army divisions to
review alleged killings and participate in the senior
committee set up by the MOD to review the issue. The MOD is
working to improve military cooperation with civilian
investigators. End Summary.

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International Commission on Extrajudicial Executions
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2. (U) The International Commission on Extrajudicial
Executions (a coalition of various human rights groups),
headed by Lisa Haugaard of the Latin American Working Group
in Washington, announced on October 10 that the group had
identified at least 955 killings and 235 forced
disappearances committed by Colombian security forces between
July 2002 and June 2007. The members of the commission heard
over 100 witnesses in Bogota, Medellin and Valledupar. The
report criticizes the Fiscalia for not investigating the
cases in a timely fashion, complains of the military's
failure to cooperate with civilian investigators and blames
President Uribe's Democratic Security policy for exacerbating
the problem. The group urged international donors to
condition military aid to Colombia on GOC action to end
extrajudicial killings.

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Fiscalia Investigates Extrajudicial Killings
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3. (U) The Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalia) has stepped
up efforts to investigate and prosecute cases of
extrajudicial killings. An internal Fiscalia report
identified 189 formal investigations of alleged extrajudicial
killings between January 1, 2001, and August 31, 2007. 153
of these cases began under the written inquisitorial system,
and 36 fall under the new oral accusatory system being
implemented in the country. The Fiscalia's Human Rights Unit
handles 108 of these cases while the remaining are being
processed by regional prosecutor,s offices. Of the 189
cases, 170 are still under investigation, 13 are suspended,
and 6 cases resulted in convictions. The Fiscalia estimates
there are 388 victims including 349 male and 39 female. 40 of
the victims are children.


4. (U) The Fiscalia reports the investigations have so far
resulted in 160 preventive detentions and 90 indictments.
Eight members of the army and one police officer have been
convicted. The Fiscalia has questioned over 100 government
officials, 541 members of the army, 69 police officers, 6
from CTI (Fiscalia's technical investigative body) and one
navy officer. Most offenses occurred in Antioquia (71),Meta
(32) and Norte de Santander (13),with 162 incidents in rural
areas and 27 in urban areas. Six colonels, seven majors, 15
captains, one lieutenant colonel, 13 lieutenants, 12
sub-lieutenants, 38 sergeants, 59 conscript soldiers and 331
career soldiers remain under investigation.


5. (SBU) The Fiscalia is also developing a new sub-section
within the Human Rights Unit that will be dedicated to
investigating and prosecuting extrajudicial killings. This
is part of an expansive restructuring effort by the Fiscalia
to focus more resources on critical human rights cases. The
Human Rights Unit will receive 55 new prosecutors and 100
investigators starting in January as part of the National

Development Plan and the $40 million increase in the
Fiscalia's 2008 budget.

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Procuraduria Also Committed to Investigating Cases
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6. (U) The Inspector General's Office (Procuraduria) is
conducting separate, disciplinary investigations of 706
alleged extrajudicial killings, including some cases under
investigation by the Fiscalia, that occurred between March
2002 and August 31, 2007 and include 1094 victims. The
investigations involve 648 Army personnel, 18 members of the
navy and 40 police. It reports a 13% increase in reported
cases from 282 in 2006 to 320 in 2007. 22 cases occurred in
urban areas and 684 in rural areas. The majority of cases
occurred in Antioquia (259),Caqueta (54),Norte de Santander
(41),Casanare (36) and Meta (29). The greater number of
cases investigated by the Procuraduria reflects its less
stringent evidentiary standards and rules, including
admissibility of evidence. The Procuraduria also uses much
broader criteria than the Fiscalia in classifying a crime as
an "extrajudicial killing." (Note: "Extrajudicial killing"
is not an offense in Colombia's criminal code. Such killings
are usually classified as aggravated or ordinary homicides.
End note)

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UNHCHR Getting Strong Cooperation from MOD
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7. (C) The local United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights (UNHCHR) office visited the Colombia Army's seven
divisions--at the request of Army Commander General
Montoya--in August to review approximately 90 alleged cases
of extrajudicial killings. UNHCHR reviewed the cases with
divisional, brigade, and battalion commanders. UNHCHR found
that: 1) information on alleged killings is retained at the
brigade and battalion levels but does not flow to lawyers at
headquarters; 2) only a small number of cases bore out
military claims that the deaths occurred during combat; 3) in
cases where courts or disciplinary bodies found a wrongful
death occurred, the military continued to insist kills were
legitimate; 4) several officers attributed the deaths to
senior officers' demand for "results"; 5) military lawyers
tend to be young, poorly trained and inculcated with the view
that their primary duty is to defend the Armed Forces; and 6)
the Colombian army needs to strengthen its internal
disciplinary controls, broaden metrics to include captures
and desertions as well as kills, and redesign its training to
stress captures as well as "search and destroy" missions.
The UNHCHR praised military cooperations and is discussing
its conclusions with the MOD's Investigative Committee on
Extrajudicial Killings.

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MOD Committee Continues Implementing Directive 10
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8. (U) The Ministry of Defense's Investigative Committee,
set up on July 11 under Directive 10, has met three times to
address the problem of extrajudicial killings. The Committee
expects to complete a comprehensive report, including policy
recommendations, by the end of October. On July 21, it
distributed the Bulletin of Military Justice to all military
judges and justice officials to alert them on Directive 10,
which reiterates the Armed Forces' legal obligations under
international humanitarian law regarding treatment of
civilians and civilian investigations of extrajudicial
killings. Armed Forces Commander General Montoya also issued
an order instructing army personnel that their responsibility
as "first responders" at the scene of a combat death is to
notify civilian authorities and to preserve the scene until
civilian investigators arrive. 26,000 military personnel have
received "first responder" training.


9. (SBU) Chief of the Armed Forces General Freddy Padilla
also ordered military personnel on July 10 "to exhaust all
available resource" to enable civilian investigators to
arrive at combat scenes as quickly as possible to conduct
their investigations. Still, Military Criminal Justice

director Luz Marin Gil concedes that ensuring civilian
investigation of combat deaths remains a challenge,
especially in rural areas. Gil said she has designated an
auditor to review alleged extrajudicial killings to identify
trends and problems and propose solutions. Finally, she said
a bill amending the military criminal justice code will help
clarify that the military criminal justice system does not
have jurisdiction over specific violations of international
humanitarian law and other human rights offenses.
Brownfield