Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BOGOTA1951
2008-05-23 23:40:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bogota
Cable title:
PROSECUTOR GENERAL MAKES PROGRESS ON SAN JOSE DE
how-toVZCZCXYZ0001 PP RUEHWEB DE RUEHBO #1951 1442340 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 232340Z MAY 08 FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2992 INFO RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 0479 RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ MAY 9460 RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 6226 RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA PRIORITY 1779 RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 6884 RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL PRIORITY 4439 RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 001951
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/23/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS CO
SUBJECT: PROSECUTOR GENERAL MAKES PROGRESS ON SAN JOSE DE
APARTADO HUMAN RIGHTS CASES
REF: A. 07 BOGOTA 8400
B. BOGOTA 1282
Classified By: Political Counselor John S. Creamer.
Reason: 1.4 (b) and (d)
SUMMARY
-------
C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 001951
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/23/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS CO
SUBJECT: PROSECUTOR GENERAL MAKES PROGRESS ON SAN JOSE DE
APARTADO HUMAN RIGHTS CASES
REF: A. 07 BOGOTA 8400
B. BOGOTA 1282
Classified By: Political Counselor John S. Creamer.
Reason: 1.4 (b) and (d)
SUMMARY
--------------
1. (U) On May 17, local media reported that Army Captain
Guillermo Gordillo of the 17th Brigade had confessed to
participating in the February 21, 2005 murder of eight
civilians near San Jose de Apartado. Gordillo claimed that
the Brigade's commander and other senior officers "must have
known" about the massacre, but the prosecutor handling the
case told us there is no additional evidence linking the
commander to the incident. In a separate case, the
Department of Administrative Security (DAS) arrested retired
sergeant Luis Eduardo Mahecha on May 15 for the murder of a
farmer near Apartado. END SUMMARY.
2. (U) Army Captain Gordillo confessed in preliminary
testimony to the Prosecutor General's office (Fiscalia) to
military collusion with former paramilitary groups in the
February 21, 2005 murder of eight civilians, including two
minors, near San Jose de Apartado (reftels A and B). This is
the first official admission by military personnel that
elements of the 17th Brigade participated in the murders
together with the paramilitary Heroes de Tolova Block led by
Diego Fernando Murillo Bejarno (Don Berna). Murillo accepted
responsibility for the murders in Justice and Peace Law
testimony on May 7; other paramilitaries have also testified
about military complicity in the murders. MAPP/OAS head
Sergio Caramagna told us Justice and Peace testimony was key
to exposing the military's role in the murders.
3. (U) Gordillo said 100 military, along with 50 members of
the Tolova bloc, were patrolling the area together. The
military included members of the Bolivar and Anzoategui
company of the Velez Infantry Battalion, as well as members
of the Alacran company of the 33rd Battalion. Gordillo
stated that General Hector Jaime Fandino (ex-commander of the
17th Brigade),Colonel Eduardo Espinosa Beltran (Commander of
the Velez Battalion),and Major Jose Fernando Castano (second
in operational command of the Battalion) were aware of the
joint patrols with the paramilitaries.
4. (C) The Fiscalia prosecutor in the case, Nelson Casas,
told us on May 21 that there is no evidence linking Fandino
or Espinosa to the murders. Other than Gordillo's
supposition that they "must have known" about the massacre,
there is no other testimony indicating their involvement.
Still, Casas said there is additional evidence showing Major
Castano's participation in the massacre. The Fiscalia plans
to formally charge him the week of May 26.
5. (U) In a separate incident, the DAS arrested retired
sergeant Luis Eduardo Mahecha on May 15 in connection with
the March 11, 2006 murder of Jose Orlando Giraldo Barrera, a
local farmer in Apartado. His arrest stemmed from a DAS
investigation that begun in September 2006 at the request of
the Fiscalia's Human Rights unit. Mahecha allegedly murdered
Giraldo and presented him as a "false positive," or a
terrorist killed in combat. Mahecha was also named by Judge
Edmundo Lopez of the 4th Specialized Criminal Court in Cali
as an accomplice during the sentencing of Colonel Byron
Carvajal in the May 22, 2006 Jamundi massacre of ten
counter-narcotics police by a Army unit.
BROWNFIELD
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/23/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS CO
SUBJECT: PROSECUTOR GENERAL MAKES PROGRESS ON SAN JOSE DE
APARTADO HUMAN RIGHTS CASES
REF: A. 07 BOGOTA 8400
B. BOGOTA 1282
Classified By: Political Counselor John S. Creamer.
Reason: 1.4 (b) and (d)
SUMMARY
--------------
1. (U) On May 17, local media reported that Army Captain
Guillermo Gordillo of the 17th Brigade had confessed to
participating in the February 21, 2005 murder of eight
civilians near San Jose de Apartado. Gordillo claimed that
the Brigade's commander and other senior officers "must have
known" about the massacre, but the prosecutor handling the
case told us there is no additional evidence linking the
commander to the incident. In a separate case, the
Department of Administrative Security (DAS) arrested retired
sergeant Luis Eduardo Mahecha on May 15 for the murder of a
farmer near Apartado. END SUMMARY.
2. (U) Army Captain Gordillo confessed in preliminary
testimony to the Prosecutor General's office (Fiscalia) to
military collusion with former paramilitary groups in the
February 21, 2005 murder of eight civilians, including two
minors, near San Jose de Apartado (reftels A and B). This is
the first official admission by military personnel that
elements of the 17th Brigade participated in the murders
together with the paramilitary Heroes de Tolova Block led by
Diego Fernando Murillo Bejarno (Don Berna). Murillo accepted
responsibility for the murders in Justice and Peace Law
testimony on May 7; other paramilitaries have also testified
about military complicity in the murders. MAPP/OAS head
Sergio Caramagna told us Justice and Peace testimony was key
to exposing the military's role in the murders.
3. (U) Gordillo said 100 military, along with 50 members of
the Tolova bloc, were patrolling the area together. The
military included members of the Bolivar and Anzoategui
company of the Velez Infantry Battalion, as well as members
of the Alacran company of the 33rd Battalion. Gordillo
stated that General Hector Jaime Fandino (ex-commander of the
17th Brigade),Colonel Eduardo Espinosa Beltran (Commander of
the Velez Battalion),and Major Jose Fernando Castano (second
in operational command of the Battalion) were aware of the
joint patrols with the paramilitaries.
4. (C) The Fiscalia prosecutor in the case, Nelson Casas,
told us on May 21 that there is no evidence linking Fandino
or Espinosa to the murders. Other than Gordillo's
supposition that they "must have known" about the massacre,
there is no other testimony indicating their involvement.
Still, Casas said there is additional evidence showing Major
Castano's participation in the massacre. The Fiscalia plans
to formally charge him the week of May 26.
5. (U) In a separate incident, the DAS arrested retired
sergeant Luis Eduardo Mahecha on May 15 in connection with
the March 11, 2006 murder of Jose Orlando Giraldo Barrera, a
local farmer in Apartado. His arrest stemmed from a DAS
investigation that begun in September 2006 at the request of
the Fiscalia's Human Rights unit. Mahecha allegedly murdered
Giraldo and presented him as a "false positive," or a
terrorist killed in combat. Mahecha was also named by Judge
Edmundo Lopez of the 4th Specialized Criminal Court in Cali
as an accomplice during the sentencing of Colonel Byron
Carvajal in the May 22, 2006 Jamundi massacre of ten
counter-narcotics police by a Army unit.
BROWNFIELD