AMBASSADOR'S NOVEMBER 6 MEETING WITH CNRR

UNCLAS BOGOTA 008025 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KJUS AR CI GM SP SZ CO SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S NOVEMBER 6 MEETING WITH CNRR PRESIDENT EDUARDO PIZARRO -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) National Commission for Reconciliation and Reparations (CNRR) President Eduardo Pizarro thanked the Ambassador for USG support, reviewed CNRR progress in addressing legitimacy, organizational and coordination challenges, and outlined his future priorities in a November 6 meeting. He noted that human rights groups, especially in Bogota, continue to question the CNRR's legitimacy, but said the Commission has made inroads with victims' groups in rural areas. Pizarro said the CNRR's top priorities involve expanding its network of regional offices and changing the reparation scheme from a judicial process to an administrative approach. He volunteered to organize U.S. congressional delegations meetings with victims. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) The Ambassador paid a courtesy call on November 6 to National Commission for Reconciliation and Reparations (CNRR) President Eduardo Pizarro. USAID Director and Polcouns also participated. -------------- CNRR Challenges -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Pizarro said the CNRR faced serious legitimacy, organizational and coordination challenges when it began work two years ago. Many human rights groups opposed the Justice and Peace Law (JPL) and refused to work with the CNRR. "Our legitimacy with human rights groups equaled ten degrees below zero," Pizarro commented. The CNRR also lacked employees, office space, and clear guidance on how to approach its task. Moreover, inter-agency rivalries complicated efforts to coordinate the CNRR's work with the multiple GOC agencies involved in attending victims' needs. These difficulties made many international donors reluctant to support the CNRR's work, further hindering its efforts to get off the ground. Pizarro thanked the USG for its support, adding that the USG had helped the CNRR from its inception. ¶4. (SBU) Pizarro noted that the CNRR has made progress in overcoming these obstacles. Through its work with victims, the CNRR has made some inroads with human rights groups, especially in rural areas. Progress has moved slowly with Bogota-based groups, which tend to exhibit more ideological behavior which reflects the country's political polarization. "Our legitimacy has climbed to seven degrees below zero," Pizarro remarked. He conceded that the CNRR's failure to provide direct benefits to victims to date has hurt the Commission, but noted that similar reparations efforts in Argentina, Chile and Spain required several years before they became effective. CNRR's credibility would improve as it begins to deliver concrete reparations to more victims. ¶5. (SBU) Pizarro said CNRR has built the institutional and analytical framework needed to implement effective reparation programs. In addition to its central office, CNRR has set up regional offices in Sincelejo, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, and Medellin. The regional offices contain one-stop, informational centers for victims, enabling the CNRR to help victims to enroll in the process, as well as to receive legal and psychological assistance. They also house a one-stop "disappeared persons" identification unit. Pizarro said interagency collaboration remains an issue, but added that the creation of an inter-agency JPL coordination committee chaired by Interior and Justice Minister Holguin has improved cooperation. These advances have allowed the CNRR to assist 25,000 of the 80,000 victims who have registered to date in the JPL process. -------------- FUTURE PRIORITIES -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Asked about the CNRR's priorities, Pizarro said the CNRR focuses on: 1) increasing the number of its regional offices, and 2) changing the mechanism for compensating victims from the judicial process to an administrative approach. He noted that the CNRR plans to increase its regional offices from five to twelve, adding sites in Cali, Valledupar, Neiva, Pasto, Cartagena, and Mocoa. USAID provides support for the Valledupar, Bogota, Medellin,and Bucaramanga centers and plans to fund the Choco office. The Germans and Swiss will fund some of the new offices, but the CNRR will need funding from other donors as well. ¶7. (SBU) Pizarro said the CNRR will also need international support for the shift from judicial reparations to an administrative process. The CNRR's review of other countries' experiences with judicial reparations shows that such processes do not work. The judicial route seems especially inappropriate for Colombia given the large number of victims, most of whom are poorly educated women living in rural areas. To date, not a single victim has received compensation through the JPL process. An administrative approach would provide more efficient and timely relief. ¶8. (SBU) Pizarro said the CNNR envisions a two-stage reparations model. In the first stage, the GOC would ensure that victims benefit from the full range of existing GOC health, education, training, and welfare programs. In the second, the GOC would pay small pensions to victims. Pizarro acknowledged that the GOC lacks the resources to pay pensions to all victims at once. The CNRR proposed that the GOC phase-in pensions over a five-year period, starting with the most vulnerable such a widows, handicapped, and the elderly. He said the CNRR will draft a decree, as well as new legislation, to implement the program. Pizarro admitted that neither the CNRR nor the GOC has prepared a budget for the proposal. -------------- RESTITUTION OF LAND -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Questioned about restitution of stolen land, Pizarro said the administrative compensation scheme would not substitute for returning property to their rightful owners. The CNRR supports the creation of regional commissions tasked with restoring land and other properties to victims. President Uribe will soon sign a decree setting up such commissions. To date, one family had its Cordoba department farm restored, and four more families will receive their property back later in November. -------------- U.S. CONGRESSIONAL MEETINGS WITH VICTIMS -------------- ¶10. (U) The Ambassador noted that visiting U.S. Congressional delegations find meetings with demobilized paramilitaries very useful, and asked if the CNRR could arrange similar sessions with victims. Pizarro said he would do so, adding that eight collective reparations projects remain underway in Bogota. Brownfield