COLOMBIA MAKES PROGRESS IN FIGHT AGAINST IMPUNITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 003342

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS CO
SUBJECT: COLOMBIA MAKES PROGRESS IN FIGHT AGAINST IMPUNITY

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

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SUMMARY
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1. (U) The Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalia) and
Colombian National Police (CNP) recently made several
high-profile arrests of military and police officials linked
to human rights abuses and other crimes. The Fiscalia
detained highly decorated, former Army General Rito Alejo del
Rio after Justice and Peace Law (JPL) testimony produced new
evidence implicating him in the murder of a community leader
in Choco. Testimony from the JPL process also led to further
arrests of 17th Brigade officers tied to the February 21,
2005 massacre of eight civilians from the San Jose de
Apartado peace community. CNP investigations resulted in the
detention of numerous military and CNP personnel allegedly
involved in murders and other crimes in Antioquia, Choco,
Cordoba, and Valle de Cordoba departments. The arrests
highlight continued GOC progress in the fight against
impunity. End Summary.

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ARREST (AGAIN) OF GENERAL DEL RIO
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2. (U) Four years after the Fiscalia found there was
insufficient evidence to charge retired General Rito Alejo
del Rio with colluding with paramilitaries, prosecutors
arrested del Rio on homicide charges. Del Rio commanded the
17th Brigade in Uraba (Antioquia) from 1995-1997, and was
linked by human rights groups and others to numerous civilian
deaths. He was briefly detained on charges of collusion with
paramilitaries in 2001; the Fiscalia dropped the charges in
2004 due to lack of evidence. The Fiscalia brought the new
homicide charge based on JPL testimony by former paramilitary
leaders Ever Veloza and Salvador Mancuso. The testimony
implicates del Rio in the disappearance and murder of
community leader Marino Lopez in the Choco in 1997. The
Procuraduria (Inspector General) and Fiscalia have also asked
the Supreme Court to allow the Fiscalia to reopen its earlier
case against del Rio.


3. (C) Former President Pastrana dismissed del Rio from the
Army in 1999 due to his collusion with paramilitaries. We
revoked his visa in 1999 on the same grounds. Former
Prosecutor General Camilo Osorio's handling of the del Rio
case from 2001-2004 was controversial, prompting the
resignations of several Fiscalia Human Rights Unit
prosecutors. The Committee of Accusations in Congress is
investigating Osorio, who is Colombia's current Ambassador to
Mexico, for his role in the del Rio case. Despite del Rio's
checkered past, military and civilian leaders held a dinner
in his honor in 1999 in Bogota at which President Alvaro
Uribe was the main speaker. Uribe was Governor of Antioquia
from 1995-97 and worked with del Rio. Former GOC
anti-corruption Czar and current opposition Senator Rodrigo
Lara told us del Rio--in an effort to reduce his
sentence--may provide evidence tying Uribe to paramilitary
activities.

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ARRESTS OF 3 COLONELS LINKED TO CIVILIAN DEATHS
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4. (U) Colombian authorities arrested two former 17th
Brigade officers--Mayor Jose Castano Lopez and Colonel
Orlando Espinosa--for their alleged participation in the
February 21, 2005 massacre of eight civilians, including
three children, linked to the San Jose de Apartado peace
community. The arrests were based on JPL testimonies by
demobilized paramilitaries from the Bloque de Bananeros, as
well as the testimony of incarcerated Army Captain Guillermo
Gordillo. Gordillo has already pleaded guilty to
participating in the massacre. The Fiscalia is continuing
its investigation into the crime.


5. (U) The Fiscalia also ordered the arrest of Colonel Jaime
Arturo Remolina Montalvo for his alleged role in the murder
of day laborer Luis Alfonso Hernandez in Mutata (Antioquia)
in August, 1998. The military later claimed Remolina was a
guerrilla killed in combat. Meanwhile, a court in Cauca
department sentenced three former military officers to 18
years in jail for the murder of an indigenous, Paez leader in
Cauca in 1998.
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ARRESTS LINKED TO NARCOTICS RINGS
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6. (U) On August 26, a joint operation involving the CNP
Anti-Narcotics unit and a U.S. Drug Enforcement
Agency-supported CNP investigative unit targeting Daniel
Rendon's (Don Mario) criminal group led to the arrest of 10
individuals. Those arrested included 17th Brigade Army
Captain Duvan Hernandez Tabres, Army Lieutenant Rolando
Hernandez, CNP Lieutenant Freddy Burgos, and Patrolman Carlos
Gonzalez. The four security forces personnel and six
civilians are charged with murder, conspiracy and terrorism.
The ten were linked to the killings of a CNP Lieutenant and
a patrolman, as well as the murders of three civilians in
Turbo (Antioquia). The ten were also tied to the murders of
two civilians in Carepa (Antioquia) and in Bijao (Cordoba).
In a later action, the CNP detained fourteen additional
policemen for allegedly colluding with narco-traffickers in
Antioquia, Cordoba, and Valle de Cauca departments.
NICHOLS