GOC CONSIDERING CHANGES IN REPARATIONS IN JUSTICE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 007761

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/30/2017
TAGS: KJUS PGOV PREL PTER CO
SUBJECT: GOC CONSIDERING CHANGES IN REPARATIONS IN JUSTICE
AND PEACE PROCESS

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

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Summary
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1. (SBU) The GOC announced October 23 it is considering a
proposal by the National Commission of Reparations and
Reconciliation (CNRR) to change the reparations process from
the current judicial procedure--which has proved extremely
slow in identifying victims and assets--to an administrative
process. The CNRR proposal calls for administrative
processing of victims and GOC funding of reparations. Human
rights groups do not oppose the change, but fear it may
undercut efforts to dismantle paramilitary structures. The
GOC is also considering steps to expedite the Justice and
Peace law (JPL) process, including fixing a deadline for
former paramilitaries to testify and hearing voluntary
confessions (versiones libres) in "bloques" (jointly with
paramilitary leaders and rank and file). End summary.

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Faster Process for Reparations
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2. (U) The GOC announced October 23 it would explore a
proposal by the CNRR to change the reparations process for
victims from the current judicial procedure to an
administrative process. The proposal would provide
individual compensation through the national budget instead
of the JPL reparations fund. All victims, regardless of the
degree of injury or whether the perpetrators were FARC or
paramilitaries, would receive the same compensation (a still
undetermined amount). Meanwhile, the GOC will continue
collecting seized assets and property of former
paramilitaries. A 2005 study by think tank CERAC (Centro de
Recursos para el Analisis de Conflictos) estimated that
reparations for all victims--paramilitary, FARC, ELN, and
other groups since 1964--could cost the GOC between 19% and
33% of its budget. The study bases its estimates on amounts
awarded for damages by the Inter-American Court on Human
Rights.


3. (U) The current JPL reparation process requires
demobilized to confess their crimes through versiones libres
and submit their assets to the Prosecutor General's office
(Fiscalia.) The Fiscalia investigates the statements and
presents them to the JPL magistrates. The reparations process
is moving very slowly due to: 1) incomplete versiones libres,
2) victims' low education levels and lack of legal resources,
3) the inability of 95% of victims to identify their
perpetrators, 4) the length of time required for
investigations, 5) continued threats to victims who have come
forward, and 6) the difficulties in defining victims'
eligibility. CNRR President Eduardo Pizarro told us that at
the current rate, it would take two to three years for the
first victim to receive reparations and about fifteen years
to process compensation for the over 82,000 victims who have
come forward to date.


4. (U) Pizarro underscored the relative success of Colombia's
peace process, pointing to the confession of over 3000
crimes, discovery of hundreds of mass graves, the arrest of
40 congressmen, but said the reparations process has been a
failure. He said an administrative procedure would the most
effective, rapid way to provide adequate reparations to the
large number of victims involved. The CNRR has studied
reparation policies implemented in Chile, Peru and Guatemala.
Each country's program is different, with some providing
victims cash payments and others giving them preferential
access to health, education and employment benefits. The
CNRR continues to review what would be the appropriate mix
for Colombia.


5. (U) Pizarro said that in addition to the CNRR, the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and GOC Peace
Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo support an administrative
approach. Restrepo said the proposal would prevent each
victim from having to individually go through the legal
process. At a CNRR meeting on October 23, Justice Vice

Minister Guillermo Reyes confirmed the GOC is studying an
administrative reparations process, but noted that adoption
of such a measure would require further consultation with
victims groups, the judiciary, Treasury, Inspector General's
Office (Procuraduria),Fiscalia and international
organizations.

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Human Rights Groups Voice Doubts
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6. (C) National Victims Movement leader Ivan Cepeda said his
group, which has questioned the CNRR's legitimacy in the
past, would not discourage victims from seeking compensation
through an administrative process if the GOC opted for such a
mechanism. Still, he voiced concern that a GOC-financed
administrative approach would relieve the pressure to
confiscate paramilitary assets and dismantle paramilitary
structures. Moreover, many human rights groups believe an
individual reparations program would undercut popular
political support for collective or political reparations
(i.e. grant of media access to unions or other injured
groups, training or material support for social groups, etc).


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Expediting Versiones Libres Process
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7. (U) The GOC is also considering proposals to accelerate
the JPL process. These include fixing a deadline of six
months for demobilized leaders to appear before the Fiscalia
for their versiones libres or risk losing their JPL rights. A
Justice and Peace prosecutor suggested October 24 that
paramilitary leader Ivan R. Duque (aka Ernesto Baez) be
removed from the JPL process and charged under normal
criminal law if he continued to refuse confessing his crimes
in his versiones libres. The GOC is also reviewing the
possibility of holding versiones libres in paramilitary
"bloques" (combining leaders and rank and file members) to
speed up the process.
Brownfield