DECEMBER 2008: HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE

UNCLAS BOGOTA 000059 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS CO SUBJECT: DECEMBER 2008: HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. The civilian Prosecutor General's Office announced investigations against four former generals for alleged previous ties to now-demobilized paramilitaries. On December 20, the FARC kidnapped ten men from Arrayanes (Meta). The Southern Bloc of the FARC admitted to the December 7 "mistake" killing of two medical workers in Caqueta. The Prosecutor General's office ordered the arrest of five soldiers for the alleged extrajudicial killings of two men reported as combat deaths in Magdalena in 2001, and the Inspector General's office announced the investigation of seven soldiers in the Tarqui Battalion in Boyaca for the murder of seven men in Boyaca in 2004. On December 12, Jorge Noguera, former director of the Department of Administrative Security (DAS),was re-arrested on charges of paramilitary collaboration. The Bogota Superior Court overturned an arrest order against "Semana" news magazine Director Alejandro Santos after claims the order represented an attack on press freedom. End summary. FOUR RETIRED GENERALS INVESTIGATED FOR PARA TIES -------------- -------------- ¶2. Four former Army Generals are under formal investigation by the Prosecutor General's office (Fiscalia) for alleged previous ties to the now demobilized United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). Carlos Alberto Ospina (ex-commander of the armed forces),Julio Eduardo Charry (ex-military commander of the Uraba region),Ivan Ramirez Quintero (ex-commander of the 1st Division),and Rito Alejo del Rio (ex-commander of the 17th Brigade) were accused of connections to the AUC and reportedly named in testimony ("versions libres") by ex-AUC leaders, including Salvatore Mancuso and Francisco Villalba. Mancuso testified that Del Rio met with now deceased -AUC leader Carlos Castano in Cordoba in 1996 and 1997, and collaborated with Castano against the FARC. Mancuso claimed that Freddy Rendon (El Aleman) and Mancuso met with Ivan Ramirez and Julio Charry. Villalba testified that Ospina provided support from the 4th Brigade in the AUC massacre of 19 at El Aro in October 1997. ¶3. Prosecutor General Mario Iguaran authorized the investigations on December 12. The four retired generals are in jail pending investigation, and have denied involvement with the AUC. As former generals, their cases would be heard by the Supreme Court. Del Rio is currently incarcerated at the Infantry School in Bogota due to possible connections to homicides and collaboration with paramilitaries during his time in Uraba, and Ramirez is incarcerated in the Engineering Battalion in Bogota for connections to the 1985 Palacio de Justicia case. FARC KIDNAPPINGS CONTINUE -------------- ¶4. On December 20, the FARC kidnapped ten men in Arrayanes (Meta). Police commander Fabio Antonio Leal in Villavicencio said the abducted men ranged in age from 19 to 50, and were likely taken as forced recruits for the FARC. FARC ADMITS TO ATTACK ON MEDICS -------------- ¶5. The Southern Bloc of the FARC admitted on December 23, to killing two medical workers on December 7 in San Vincente de Caguan. The two were killed when the FARC set off a bomb near their vehicle. Three others were wounded. The medical workers were part of a Colombian Institute of Family Wellness (ICBF) medical aid team. The FARC said the attack was a "mistake," and claimed they thought the vehicle belonged to an Army Anti-Kidnapping units (Gaula). The FARC also killed eight police in Arauca on December 5. EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLING ARRESTS -------------- ¶6. The Barranquilla branch of the Prosecutor General's office on December 24, ordered the arrest of five soldiers for the alleged 2001 extrajudicial killing of two merchants whose deaths were reported as FARC killed in combat. The order reversed a ruling in favor of the soldiers made by a Military Penal Justice panel in Santa Marta in January 2006. The suspects include a sergeant and four professional soldiers from the Infantry Battalion Cordoba based in Magdalena. The murders occurred on July 29, 2001, when the five soldiers claimed the two men were FARC planting an explosive charge on a railway line owned by the Drummond mining company. The Fiscalia reported that autopsies showed that the shots that killed the men were fired at point-blank range. Investigators said the soldiers gave contradictory statements about the incident, and indicated the men had no ties to the FARC. ¶7. The Inspector General's office (Procuraduria) announced an investigation of seven soldiers from the Tarqui Battalion in Boyaca for the murder of seven individuals. The seven were reported as enemies killed in combat after the soldiers entered a private home in Labranzagrande, Boyaca on May 8, ¶2004. Details of the engagement as described by the soldiers were not supported by forensic evidence found at the scene. Both the Prosecutor General and the Inspector General have publicized new extrajudicial killing investigations and arrests in recent months. EX-DAS DIRECTOR NOGUERA RE-ARRESTED -------------- ¶8. On December 12, on direct order from Prosecutor General Mario Iguaran, Jorge Noguera, former director of the Department of Administrative Security (DAS),was re-arrested on charges of paramilitary collaboration. Noguera was originally charged and detained on February 22, 2007, released on a legal technicality, re-arrested on June 6, 2007, and again released in March, 2008 due to errors in arrest orders. Noguera's second re-arrest should allow the trial against him to proceed. ARREST ORDER FOR MAGAZINE DIRECTOR OVERTURNED -------------- ¶9. The Penal Chamber of the Bogota Superior Court overturned an arrest order against "Semana" magazine Director Alejandro Santos issued by Magistrate Jose Alfredo Escobar of the Superior Judicial Council. Escobar issued the arrest order after asking Semana for a retraction of an article entitled "The Experts of Justice," which Escobar considered libel. The arrest order sparked protests by press freedom groups, including Inter-American Society of the Press (SIP). Santos said the order was "intimidation" and represented a message to the media to stop reporting on Court corruption. NICHOLS