GOC PRIVATIZATION OF PROTECTION PROGRAM

UNCLAS BOGOTA 000305 SENSITIVE SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PGOV PREL ECON SOCI CO SUBJECT: GOC PRIVATIZATION OF PROTECTION PROGRAM CONTROVERSIAL SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) Interior and Justice Minister (MOIJ) Fabio Valencia announced January 26 that the GOC-funded and administered protection program for at-risk individuals, including unionists and human rights defenders, will be contracted out to a private security firm starting January, 2010. The body guard program is currently administered by the Department of Administrative Security (DAS). Unionists and human rights groups oppose the move, noting the protection of citizens is a state responsibility. Presidential Human Rights Director Carlos Franco told us the private option would be cheaper and more efficient, and would provide participants the same level of protection they currently enjoy. It would also address union complaints that the intelligence service (DAS) should not be involved in protection. END SUMMARY. PROTECTION PROGRAM BACKGROUND -------------- ¶2. (U) The MOIJ protection program provides services to over 8517 vulnerable and threatened individuals, including politicians, opposition groups, civic and local leaders, unionists, peasant leaders, human rights activists, and ethnic minorities. Approximately 1460 of the participants are unionists. The protection program's annual budget for 2008 was about 82.2 billion Colombian pesos (about 41 million USD)--Minister Valencia said the 2009 budget will be 90 billion pesos (about 45 million USD). No one enrolled in the protection program in 2008 was killed. ¶3. (U) The protection schemes offered by the program are either hard or soft. Hard protection measures include body guards, weapons, bullet-proof vests, armored doors/buildings, armored vehicles, rental vehicles, and international plane tickets to leave the country. Soft protection measures include communication equipment and economic assistance for temporary domestic relocations. The DAS and the Colombian National Police (CNP) are responsible for completing a risk analysis study to determine whether soft or hard protection measures are required on a case-by-case basis. Since 2003, no one with hard protection measures has been killed. WHY PRIVATIZE? -------------- ¶4. (U) MOIJ Minister Valencia announced January 26 that the protection program will be contracted out to a private security firm starting January, 2010. Franco said the GOC wants a cheaper but equally effective option. He noted the change should not come as a surprise--discussions on how to improve the GOC protection program began in 2002 when the United Nations, the GOC, and human rights groups agreed the following issues needed to be addressed: body guards needed more professional training, the GOC needed to provide mandatory social security benefits to the body guards, and there should be a separation between the intelligence services (DAS) and the protection services. Based on these concerns, the GOC has offered beneficiaries the option of moving to the contracted service on a voluntary basis, with Inspector General (Procuraduria) oversight. He said the GOC has already moved many of the at-risk groups to the private security firms through a successful pilot project--now the unionists and human rights groups will be included. ¶5. (U) Under the existing scheme, the MOIJ transfers funds to the DAS to administer the body guard program, while the most sensitive protection cases are given to the CNP. Currently, the DAS body guards can be selected by the threatened individuals. They are not DAS direct-hires, but instead are given three-month contracts. Franco said the GOC wants to end this practice, since it violates its own labor code. The GOC does not pay mandatory social security contributions to the bodyguards on the three-month contracts. DAS added that the bodyguards--who are not DAS employees--generate a disproportionate number of public complaints about DAS behavior. ¶6. (U) Franco also told us the state institutions could not cope with the steep expansion rate of the protection program--the protection program budget is now 25 times larger than what it was in 2000. MOIJ Protection Program Director Rafael Bustamante told us in 2000 the program protected 880 individuals; now they are responsible for over 9000. Franco said that to meet the demands of current approved applications, the program needs to hire another 1000 bodyguards. Franco voiced concern that the growing protection program responsibilities diverted valuable investigative and crime-fighting resources away from the DAS and CNP, noting the DAS currently dedicates substantial administrative resources to the program. DAS officials tell us they want to end their involvement in protection work and focus their resources on intelligence activities. NOT PROTECTED? -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The largest labor confederation--the United Workers Confederation (CUT)--rejected the GOC plan, calling it a a "time bomb." General Workers Confederation (CGT) President Julio Roberto Gomez voiced concern that both the GOC and the private firms will shirk their protection responsibilities. The CUT said the GOC is insincere when it hides behind protecting workers' rights (i.e. the body guards' social security payments.)--the state not only avoided paying social security taxes for many years, but now it is leaving at-risk unionists stranded. Former CUT President Carlos Rodriguez said the unionists previously complained that the DAS used the program to spy on them, so it is ironic they now oppose the new system. Valencia Cossio and Franco stressed that the transition will be gradual and will not result in a diminution in protection of at risk individuals. BROWNFIELD