QUARTERLY HUMAN RIGHTS CONSULTATION FOCUSES ON JUDICIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 003581

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/12/18
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PTER KJUS ELAB CO
SUBJECT: QUARTERLY HUMAN RIGHTS CONSULTATION FOCUSES ON JUDICIAL
INDEPENDENCE

REF: REF A: 09BOGOTA3277; REF B: 09BOGOTA3075

CLASSIFIED BY: Brian A. Nichols, Deputy Chief of Mission; REASON:
1.4(B),(D)

SUMMARY

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1. (U) Charge d'Affaires Brian Nichols hosted the Embassy's
quarterly consultations with human rights groups on December 15.
The discussion focused on judicial independence, the failure to
implement the new intelligence law, and specific cases of
displacement and "social cleansing." The Director of the Platform
Group Coordination Colombia-Europe-United States called for the USG
to cease providing assistance to the Inspector General's office.
The CDA highlighted that State Department officials are interested
in Colombia's human rights situation and how to best design USG
polices to confront human rights challenges. End Summary.




2. (SBU) Attendees included Mario Gomez and Natalia Martinez,
Restrepo Barco Foundation; Father Alberto Franco,
Inter-ecclesiastic Commission for Justice and Peace (Justice and
Peace); Juan Camilo Rivera, Colombian Lawyers Commission (CCJ); and
Alberto Yepes, Coordination Colombia Europe United States (CCEEU).




JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE AT JEOPARDY?

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3. (C) Alberto Yepes of CCEEU said that President Uribe's first
reelection had dangerously destabilized the delicate system of
checks and balances articulated in the Colombian constitution,
putting judicial independence at risk. The constitution did not
intend for one President to name all the directors of State
agencies, said Yepes, but Uribe wielded that power. Yepes
questioned Uribe's political will to nominate an independent
Prosecutor General (Fiscal General). Juan Camilo Rivera from CCJ
expressed concern that an "extreme" Prosecutor General -- who would
actively block important human rights cases -- might be named.
Offering an alternate perspective, Restrepo Barco Foundation
representative Mario Gomez said he interpreted the confrontations
between the high courts and the executive as proof of a robust and
independent judiciary. He suggested the investigation of the Vice
President's paramilitary ties demonstrated that the Prosecutor
General's Office (Fiscalia) had maintained its independence as
well.



USG SUPPORT TO PROCURADURIA CHALLENGED

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4. (SBU) Yepes called for the USG to end assistance to the
Inspector General's office (Procuraduria). Yepes said Inspector
General Alejandro Ordonez Maldonado had abandoned his role as a
counterbalance to the executive and had supported Uribe's
government to the point of "illegality." Yepes cited, as examples:
the recommendation to absolve retired Colonel Alfonso Plazas Vega,
accused of forcibly disappearing persons during the 1985 assault to
retake the Palace of Justice; the decision that congressional
representatives implicated in the para-politics scandal should not
be tried for conspiracy; and the attempt to nullify the
Constitutional Court's decision ordering the GOC to make students
aware of the specific circumstances when abortion is legal (REF A).


LAGS IN INTELLIGENCE LAW IMPLEMENTATION

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5. (C) Rivera expressed concern that no steps had been taken to
implement the new intelligence law (Law 1298 of 2009),and noted
without its application illegal intelligence collection likely
would continue. Rivera said the law mandated the creation of a
congressional commission to oversee intelligence activities, but no
such body had been created. He criticized the failure of the GOC
to launch a government-wide project to purge intelligence files as
defined in Decree 3600, issued in September.



CASE STUDIES AND AN OPTIMISTIC ROUND UP

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6. (C) Father Franco of Justice and Peace reported that following
the forced disappearances of seven men in late November, 45 people
had been displaced from Argelia (Cauca) to the departmental capital
of Popayan. Franco criticized the government reaction, which
discounted the victims' claim that "paramilitary" groups had
displaced them. In Putumayo, Franco said, his organization noted a
growing trend of "social cleansing" forced disappearances and
murders. For example, the mutilated body of a woman found in the
Puerto Asis dump was presumed to be that of a prostitute named
Marjene Dolly; her gay brother, who disappeared at the same time,
has not been found. Gomez pointed to other serious human rights
concerns like forced recruitment of children by illegal armed
groups and violence against indigenous, but underscored the GOC's
democratic security policy had achieved significant improvements in
human rights, such as: a reduction in homicides, massacres, and
kidnappings; improved access to health care and education; and a
reduction in the poverty rate.



USG RESPONSE

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7. (C) CDA Nichols thanked the participants for the exchange of
information and reiterated the important role human rights NGOs
play in the certification process. He stressed that the USG has a
legal and moral obligation to maintain a regular dialogue with NGOs
and emphasized that State Department leadership had a strong
interest Colombia's human rights situation. The CDA pointed to
likely changes in the certification language, which would emphasize
GOC protection of vulnerable groups (including the indigenous and
Afro-Colombians),journalists, unionists, and human rights
defenders and would prohibit assistance to the Administrative
Department of Security (DAS).
BROWNFIELD