DAS DIRECTOR: ILLEGALITY OF SURVEILLANCE UNCLEAR

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 003519 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/12/07 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PTER KJUS CO SUBJECT: DAS DIRECTOR: ILLEGALITY OF SURVEILLANCE UNCLEAR REF: REF A: 09BOGOTA3075; REF B: 09BOGOTA2019; REF C: 09BOGOTA3177 CLASSIFIED BY: William R. Brownfield, Ambassador; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) In a meeting with Polcouns November 13, Administrative Department of Security (DAS) Director Felipe Munoz said that allegations against his agency of illegal surveillance were exaggerated in some cases. Nevertheless, he emphasized that DAS is cooperating with Colombian judicial authorities, who will make the final determination on legality of DAS activities. Munoz outlined his efforts to establish new standards and to plan for the new, leaner intelligence agency. It would be worthwhile to provide the GOC with technical advice on human rights and national security law as it seeks to establish this new agency. End Summary. ILLEGALITY UNCERTAIN -------------- ¶2. (C) In a November 13 meeting with Polcouns, Director Munoz stated that while the investigations and surveillance of NGOs and political opponents of President Uribe may have been inappropriate, all these activities were not necessarily illegal. For example, Munoz said the DAS investigations into the magistrates stemmed from a suspicious transaction report from a bank and not from a deliberate investigation into the finances of magistrates. However, he acknowledged the impropriety, and possible illegality, of leaking the results of that investigation to members of President Uribe's staff. ¶3. (C) While policies like "offensive intelligence" -- deliberate attempts to hinder human rights groups' activities -- against human rights defenders were clearly illegal (REF A),Munoz reported there is some debate over the lawfulness of the surveillance of human rights defenders in the 2004-05 timeframe. At that time, when DAS collected vast reams of "useless" intelligence on human rights activists, Munoz indicated, no intelligence law existed -- so the courts must now determine the legality of the "excessive" intelligence collection based on a slim number of high-court decisions in existence at the time of the surveillance. (COMMENT: While elements of both the human rights defenders and magistrate investigations appear to have been legally executed, there is legal ambiguity as to the point at which the surveillance overstepped the bounds into criminal activity, REF B). ¶4. (C) Munoz emphasized the DAS was fully cooperating in the Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalia) investigations. He twice evaded the question, however, about reports that some DAS files had been secreted out of the DAS offices just prior to the launch of the Prosecutor General's investigation. MUNOZ MAKING STRUCTURAL CHANGES -------------- ¶5. (C) Regardless of the legality of the surveillance, Munoz agreed it had "crossed the line" of propriety. As a result, Munoz had implemented new standards to prevent future surveillance abuses, including: establishing human rights policies through a new human rights group within DAS; adding a human rights curriculum to detective training; accelerating disciplinary investigations; and better defining the rights of captured suspects. Noting that the law before Congress to dissolve the DAS did not enter into the specifics of the successor intelligence agency's design, Munoz said he was working to define the structure of the new entity (REF C). (NOTE: The law to restructure the DAS is not expected to pass before the end of the legislative session on December 16, which would delay action until spring 2010.) COMMENT: WHAT THE USG CAN DO TO HELP -------------- ¶6. (C) Conventional wisdom on Munoz is that he is well intentioned but in over his head when it comes to fixing the problems in DAS. As the GOC goes about creating the new intelligence agency, we consider it worthwhile to provide Munoz and his team with technical advice on national security and human rights law to prevent the lax oversight and weak internal controls of DAS from being passed to its successor. BROWNFIELD