NOVEMBER HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 004342 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/22/2016 TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS CO SUBJECT: NOVEMBER HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE REF: BOGOTA 4165 Classified By: Political Counselor John S. Creamer. Reason: 1.4(b,d) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) MAPP/OAS Chief Sergio Caramanga said he considered President Uribe's appointment of General Gonzalez Pena as new Army commander a "mistake" due to human rights concerns. MOD officials said Minister Santos' 15 point plan would strengthen the Inspector General (IG) system and revise military human rights training. On November 17, the MOD publicly dismissed 13 soldiers for administrative reasons. Privately, MOD officials told us that the 13 were released due to possible complicity in extrajudicial killings in Sucre and Cordoba. The Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalia) fired the prosecutor responsible for a recent email tapping scandal during an investigation into the FARC-affiliated Clandestine Colombian Communist Party. Cali-based UN High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNHCHR) official Daniel Atchebro told us extrajudicial killings in Putumayo are a major concern. The Press Freedom Foundation (Fundacion para la Libertad de Prensa) announced a new alert network to help protect journalists. End Summary. -------------- Gonzalez as Army Commander a "Mistake" -------------- ¶2. (C) MAPP/OAS Director Sergio Caramagna told us he considered President Uribe's appointment of General Gonzalez Pena as new Army commander a "mistake," since Gonzalez is seen as more of a hard-liner on human rights than his predecessor. Following several extrajudicial killings by the 11th Brigade in Toluviejo in Sucre last year, MAPP encountered Gonzalez--whose Caribbean Command controlled the 11th--in Toluviejo trying to intimidate family members not to file complaints. MAPP has also identified 55 Soacha-type extrajudicial killings, many of which occurred in Gonzalez' area of responsibility. He said Uribe's credibility with the public and the military make him well-placed to clean up the military without undermining the morale needed to combat the FARC. Uribe's dismissal of the 27 military personnel involved in the Soacha cases was a key first step, but he should take further action to purge human rights violators. ¶3. (C) MOD Human Rights office Director Lieutenant Colonel Juan Carlos Gomez told us Defense Minister Santos has surrounded Gonzalez with officers with strong human rights records to control Gonzalez' activities. He said that General Ardila, Gonzalez Pena's second-in-command, is well respected, and that the new Military Inspector General (IG) (General Rocha) and Army IG (General Suarez) would both serve as controls on human rights issues. Gomez added that with the Inspector Delegates of each division reporting directly to Rocha, he would have sufficient powers to monitor and correct human rights abuses. -------------- -------------- MOD Implementation of New Reforms -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) Gomez told us that the 15 point plan announced by Santos (ref) was a step in the right direction. The plan would: a) strengthen the Inspector General (IG) system; b) revise the human rights education of the military; and c) improve the MOD's evaluation system for senior officers. Still, Gomez voiced concern that Gonzalez and other generals believe that Uribe's dismissals of the 27 was sufficient to resolve the extrajudicial killing problem, and that the Army could move on to other issues. We suggested this was a dangerous attitude; Gomez said he had cautioned the Minister about this. -------------- Prosecutor fired for Email tapping scandal -------------- ¶5. (U) The Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalia) fired Anti-Terrorism Unit prosecutor Jorge Ivan Piedrahita for authorizing Colombian National Police intelligence (Sijin) units to tap the email of 135 persons in the public sector, media, human rights groups, and universities, with only tangential links to an ongoing investigation into alleged members of the FARC-affiliated Clandestine Colombian Communist Party (PCCC). The investigation, which was focused on 55 individuals identified through information captured by the military in a raid on a FARC camp, expanded to included anyone with email contact to the 55. Senior Fiscalia officials said they did not approve the email tapping, and that Piedrahita exceeded his authority. Piedrahita has denied that he acted without authorization. ¶6. (C) International human rights groups, including the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR),asked the Fiscalia to explain why its emails were tapped in connection with the investigation. FOR expressed concern to us that a break-in into their offices in summer 2007 could be linked to the interception of their email traffic. FOR believes that military or police intelligence were behind the break-in, since only computers were stolen, while money, jewelry and credit cards were left untouched. FOR has also asked the Inspector General (Procuraduria) to look into the case. -------------- -------------- UNHCHR Officials in Cali see situation as contentious -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) Cali-based UN High Commissioner for Human Rights official Daniel Atchebro said that due to its military command structure, military capacity, and counterinsurgency focus, UNHCHR views the Organizacion Nueva Generacion (ONG) in Narino as a continuation of former paramilitary structures which is subject to international humanitarian law. In contrast, it considers Los Rastrojos to be a criminal group dedicated to narcotrafficking, extortion, and other criminal activities. Still, los Rastrojos set up roadblocks--sometimes with CNP collusion--near Trujillo and Rio Frio in Valle de Cauca department. ¶8. (C) With few exceptions, UNHCHR has not been able to identify a physical Aguilas Negras (AN) presence in the region. In most cases, criminal groups appear to use the name to inflate their own importance. UNHCHR also suspects some military units use the Aguilas Negras label, including painting AN graffiti and using the AN name, to intimidate locals. UNHCHR has not identified new paramilitary groups in Buenaventura, but violence among narcotraffickers and other criminal groups generates displaced persons and high homicide numbers. ¶9. (C) Atchebro said his office's main area of concern for extrajudicial killings is Putumayo. UNHCHR has reported 14 victims so far this year in Putumayo, compared to 22 in 2007 and 16 in 2006. The problem is especially bad around Puerto Asis. Atchebro said the Putumayo cases generally follow the same pattern: the Army shows up at a particular place looking for a specific individual, takes him away, and the individual later appears dead. Usually the victim is a member of the FARC militia or a demobilized FARC or paramilitary. The Fiscalia investigates most cases, and usually defeats the Military Criminal Justice system's efforts to assert jurisdiction. In contrast, in Valle (which has far fewer alleged extrajudicial killings),the Fiscalia defers to the Military Criminal Justice system. Most human rights complaints in Valle involve military abuse of homes, stigmatization of local residents, and arbitrary detentions. UNHCHR also has found significant FARC fabrication of complaints in the area. -------------- -------------- MOD Releases 13 more officers for illegal acts -------------- -------------- ¶10. (C) On November 17, the MOD announced the dismissal of 13 unnamed soldiers for administrative reasons. Armed Forces Commander General Freddy Padilla publicly said the dismissals did not mean that evidence existed to try the men in criminal court. Privately, MOD Human Rights office Director Gomez told us that the 13 were released due to their possible ties to extrajudicial killings in Sucre and Cordoba, including the killing of 13 in Tuluviejo. Gomez also confirmed that one of the officers dismissed was Colonel Nestor Ivan Duque, who has been linked to a February 2005 massacre near San Jose de Apartado. Gomez refused to provide us the other names of those dismissed. He added that General Padilla had instructed the MOD to pass any evidence of wrongdoing by the 13 to the Fiscalia for investigation and possible prosecution. -------------- -------------- FLIP launches Protection Alert Network for Journalists -------------- -------------- ¶11. (U) The Press Freedom Foundation (Fundacion para la Libertad de Prensa or FLIP) announced the re-launching of the System of Alerts and Protection for Journalists. The system, known by the Spanish acronym RAP (Red de Alerta y Proteccion),was first introduced in 1996 to monitor press freedom in Colombia and alert the media about violations. FLIP expanded the system in 2008 to include 30 newspapers in 29 Departments. The new system creates communication channels between the papers and FLIP to accelerate alerts and improve access to GOC programs, such as the Interior and Justice Ministry's protection program. The program hopes to improve assistance to journalists working in rural areas by providing broader coverage. -------------- Corteros Strike Update -------------- ¶12. (C) All of the sugar cane mills have reached negotiated solutions to the cutters' strike except for the smallest 500-worker Maria Luisa mill. Seven of the eight sugar cane mills reached agreements that provided a 12% pay increase per ton of cut cane, as well as other benefits including disability, sick pay, short-term loans, shorter work days, transportation stipends, free machetes, and more housing and education benefits. Still, these workers threatened to strike again on December 2 in solidarity with Maria Luisa's workers, but so far have not done so. The Maria Luisa's owners refuse to negotiate with the workers until they stop blocking the mill entrance. Confederation of Colombian Workers (CUT) International Secretary Jose Leon Ramirez told us another 8-mill strike was unlikely. ¶13. (C) Palmira Bishop Monsignor Escudero--who helped mediate in the initial strike--told us the CUT and opposition Senators Alexander Lopez and Piedad Cordoba did not play a constructive role in negotiations. He also voiced concern that the strike would provide further impetus to mechanize sugar cane cutting. Sugar cane mill owner Harold Edder confirmed the strike has accelerated the mills' plans to mechanize, and said transition programs would be essential to enable workers to find other employment. As part of the agreements in the seven mills, the mills will start a working group with the workers to discuss how to make a smooth transition to mechanization. NICHOLS