AMBASSADOR'S OCTOBER 10 MEETING WITH UNHCHR

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 007451

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/16/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINR PREL PTER UN CO
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S OCTOBER 10 MEETING WITH UNHCHR
DIRECTOR JUAN PABLO CORLAZZOLI


Classified By: Ambassador William R. Brownfield
Reason: 1.4 (b) and (d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) In an October 10 courtesy call, the Ambassador
voiced our support for the work of local UN High Commission
for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Office Director Juan Pablo
Corlazzoli and noted our interest in working closely with his
successor. Corlazzoli thanked the Ambassador for U.S.
funding, voiced concern about Colombia's highly polarized
human rights environment, and urged the international
community to continue to build lines of communication between
the GOC and human rights groups. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) The Ambassador paid a courtesy call on October 10 to
local UNHCHR Office Director Juan Pablo Corlazzoli. The
Ambassador voiced our support for Corlazzoli's office, and
noted our interest in working with his successor. He also
asked for Corlazzoli's assessment of the human rights
situation.


3. (U) Corlazzoli thanked the Ambassador for U.S. funding for
UNHCHR, and said he hoped to continue to work with the USG to
improve Colombia's human rights record. He said UNHCHR
Geneva is interviewing various candidates, but has not yet
identified his successor. He will depart Colombia on
December 4 after the London-Cartagena process meeting in
Bogota on November 30-December 1. Corazzoli said he would
also oversee completion of the first draft of the UNHCHR's
annual human rights report which is due in Geneva on November

20. His deputy, Javier Hernandez, will manage the office
until his successor arrives some time next year.


4. (C) Corlazzoli said he remains deeply concerned about the
sharp polarization that exists between the GOC and human
rights groups. The GOC feels misunderstood and besieged by
the human rights community; human rights groups believe
themselves under attack by the GOC and its supporters. The
polarized climate prevents progress on the National Human
Rights Action Plan-- no longer a priority according to human
rights groups,--and hinders communication on key issues.


5. (C) Corlazzoli attributed the polarization to a mix of
political, personal, and policy disputes. Many human rights
groups consider President Uribe's government "illegitimate,"
and lobby constantly for an end to foreign military
assistance. At the same time, Uribe has often responded to
criticism on human rights issues by launching harsh, personal
attacks on human rights groups and individual activists. The
debate over the Justice and Peace Law sharpened these
differences, with many human rights groups taking an extreme
position in favor of justice over peace. The GOC also did a
poor job of explaining the paramilitary process to the
public. Hernandez added that President Uribe's reelection
hardened many human rights groups' stance toward his
government.


6. (C) Corlazzoli said the international community needs to
keep building lines of communication between the GOC and its
human rights critics. The international community also
should continue to support processes aimed at ending
Colombia's armed conflicts. Without peace, it remains
impossible to achieve fundamental human rights improvements.
Brownfield