Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BOGOTA7623
2007-10-22 22:33:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bogota
Cable title:
MAPP/OAS CONCERNED OVER ALLEGED EXTRAJUDICIAL
how-toVZCZCXYZ0026 PP RUEHWEB DE RUEHBO #7623/01 2952233 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 222233Z OCT 07 FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9691 INFO RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 9454 RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ OCT 8991 RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 5548 RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 6181 RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL PRIORITY 4132 RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1505 RUCNDTA/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1859 RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 007623
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS MARR CO
SUBJECT: MAPP/OAS CONCERNED OVER ALLEGED EXTRAJUDICIAL
KILLINGS IN SUCRE
Classified By: Political Counselor John S. Creamer.
Reasons: 1.4(b) and (d)
--------
SUMMARY
--------
C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 007623
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS MARR CO
SUBJECT: MAPP/OAS CONCERNED OVER ALLEGED EXTRAJUDICIAL
KILLINGS IN SUCRE
Classified By: Political Counselor John S. Creamer.
Reasons: 1.4(b) and (d)
--------------
SUMMARY
--------------
1. (C) An internal MAPP/OAS report outlined concerns about
the disappearance of eleven young men in Sucre department,
allegedly involving the 11th brigade. Six of the men (ages
16-22) were found dead days after their disappearance; the
11th brigade claimed they were killed in combat. Five remain
missing. Local officials helped the young men's families file
criminal complaints, and the regional offices of the
Prosecutor General (Fiscalia),Human Rights Ombudsman
(Defensoria),and Inspector General (Procuraduria) are
investigating. Police have arrested one man so far and are
searching for those missing. The MAPP/OAS and the UN High
Commissioner's Office in Colombia met with the Presidential
Program on Human Rights and called for a thorough
investigation. END SUMMARY.
--------------
RECRUITED FOR FARM WORK, KILLED IN COMBAT?
--------------
2. (C) An internal MAPP/OAS report--based on interviews with
victims' families and local authorities--alleges that former
paramilitary member Robinson Marboza Marza recruited eleven
young men (ages 16-22) in July and August from Tolu Viejo,
ostensibly to work on local farms for $375 a month. On July
13 and August 6, shortly after the men had left their
hometowns, the 11th brigade in Monteria presented the bodies
of six of the men as guerrillas killed in combat. The
remaining five men are missing. One family member was
murdered in his home after asking about his missing nephew;
other family members say they have received threats.
--------------
AUTHORITIES SEEK ANSWERS
--------------
3. (C) Family members contacted local authorities and the
police to challenge the military's version of events and seek
exhumation of the bodies. Local officials reacted swiftly,
providing a vehicle for relatives to travel from their homes
to Monteria, Cordoba department, and escorted by the Mayor
and police. The police continue to search for the five
remaining young men. The Procuraduria filed complaints from
the families against the 11th brigade. A military judge
initiated his own investigations into the brigade's claim
that the men were killed in combat. Local police arrested
Marboza, and he is being held in Sincelejo. The Fiscalia is
investigating Marboza and issued an arrest warrant for his
accomplices.
4. (C) Officials from the UN High Commission for Human Rights
office (UNHCHR) and the OAS met with representatives of the
Presidential Program on Human Rights to request protection
for the family members of the deceased and to call for an
open and thorough investigation. The families say they fear
reprisals for their complaints against the military and
believe other "recruiters" remain at large in Tolu Viejo.
Witnesses claim a white truck belonging to the 11th brigade
is tied to the recruiting and continues patrolling their
neighborhoods. Presidential Human Rights Director Carlos
Franco told us October 22 his office is following the cases
closely, and believes an anti-kidnapping unit attached to the
11th brigade is responsible for the deaths.
5. (C) On September 13, OAS officials met with Tolu Viejo's
Mayor, police inspector, the regional procurador, Sucre's
Human Rights Ombudsman (Defensor),a representative from the
Vice President's office, the regional coordinator for the
National Commission for Reparations and Reconciliation
(CNRR),a Marine lieutenant and a police intelligence
official. At the meeting, the Defensor agreed to appoint a
lawyer to help the families pursue their complaints and seek
technical investigations on how the men died. The
Procuraduria will also appoint a judicial investigator to
help the families testify against Marboza, and will work with
security forces to provide protection to families under
threat.
6. (C) UNHCHR told us that the OAS account matches
allegations of other reported extrajudicial killings that it
has received from north coast departments. The military uses
"recruiters" to offer jobs to young men with little or no
family connections, many of whom are demobilized or
unemployed. The young men are later presented by the
military as enemies killed in combat. The UNHCHR has raised
these cases with the Ministry of Defense. Poloff will visit
Tolu Viejo to raise our concerns with local officials and
meet with family members.
Brownfield
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS MARR CO
SUBJECT: MAPP/OAS CONCERNED OVER ALLEGED EXTRAJUDICIAL
KILLINGS IN SUCRE
Classified By: Political Counselor John S. Creamer.
Reasons: 1.4(b) and (d)
--------------
SUMMARY
--------------
1. (C) An internal MAPP/OAS report outlined concerns about
the disappearance of eleven young men in Sucre department,
allegedly involving the 11th brigade. Six of the men (ages
16-22) were found dead days after their disappearance; the
11th brigade claimed they were killed in combat. Five remain
missing. Local officials helped the young men's families file
criminal complaints, and the regional offices of the
Prosecutor General (Fiscalia),Human Rights Ombudsman
(Defensoria),and Inspector General (Procuraduria) are
investigating. Police have arrested one man so far and are
searching for those missing. The MAPP/OAS and the UN High
Commissioner's Office in Colombia met with the Presidential
Program on Human Rights and called for a thorough
investigation. END SUMMARY.
--------------
RECRUITED FOR FARM WORK, KILLED IN COMBAT?
--------------
2. (C) An internal MAPP/OAS report--based on interviews with
victims' families and local authorities--alleges that former
paramilitary member Robinson Marboza Marza recruited eleven
young men (ages 16-22) in July and August from Tolu Viejo,
ostensibly to work on local farms for $375 a month. On July
13 and August 6, shortly after the men had left their
hometowns, the 11th brigade in Monteria presented the bodies
of six of the men as guerrillas killed in combat. The
remaining five men are missing. One family member was
murdered in his home after asking about his missing nephew;
other family members say they have received threats.
--------------
AUTHORITIES SEEK ANSWERS
--------------
3. (C) Family members contacted local authorities and the
police to challenge the military's version of events and seek
exhumation of the bodies. Local officials reacted swiftly,
providing a vehicle for relatives to travel from their homes
to Monteria, Cordoba department, and escorted by the Mayor
and police. The police continue to search for the five
remaining young men. The Procuraduria filed complaints from
the families against the 11th brigade. A military judge
initiated his own investigations into the brigade's claim
that the men were killed in combat. Local police arrested
Marboza, and he is being held in Sincelejo. The Fiscalia is
investigating Marboza and issued an arrest warrant for his
accomplices.
4. (C) Officials from the UN High Commission for Human Rights
office (UNHCHR) and the OAS met with representatives of the
Presidential Program on Human Rights to request protection
for the family members of the deceased and to call for an
open and thorough investigation. The families say they fear
reprisals for their complaints against the military and
believe other "recruiters" remain at large in Tolu Viejo.
Witnesses claim a white truck belonging to the 11th brigade
is tied to the recruiting and continues patrolling their
neighborhoods. Presidential Human Rights Director Carlos
Franco told us October 22 his office is following the cases
closely, and believes an anti-kidnapping unit attached to the
11th brigade is responsible for the deaths.
5. (C) On September 13, OAS officials met with Tolu Viejo's
Mayor, police inspector, the regional procurador, Sucre's
Human Rights Ombudsman (Defensor),a representative from the
Vice President's office, the regional coordinator for the
National Commission for Reparations and Reconciliation
(CNRR),a Marine lieutenant and a police intelligence
official. At the meeting, the Defensor agreed to appoint a
lawyer to help the families pursue their complaints and seek
technical investigations on how the men died. The
Procuraduria will also appoint a judicial investigator to
help the families testify against Marboza, and will work with
security forces to provide protection to families under
threat.
6. (C) UNHCHR told us that the OAS account matches
allegations of other reported extrajudicial killings that it
has received from north coast departments. The military uses
"recruiters" to offer jobs to young men with little or no
family connections, many of whom are demobilized or
unemployed. The young men are later presented by the
military as enemies killed in combat. The UNHCHR has raised
these cases with the Ministry of Defense. Poloff will visit
Tolu Viejo to raise our concerns with local officials and
meet with family members.
Brownfield