2005 MASSACRE TRIAL DELAYED AGAIN, DEFENDANTS WILL NOT BE

UNCLAS BOGOTA 000233 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV PTER KJUS CO SUBJECT: 2005 MASSACRE TRIAL DELAYED AGAIN, DEFENDANTS WILL NOT BE RELEASED REF: BOGOTA25; BOGOTA35 SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) On February 4, Poloff attended the trial in Medellin of 10 former members of the Colombian Army's 17th Brigade for the 2005 massacre of eight members of the San Jose de Apartado Peace Community. During the trial, a military witness implicated former Army Commander General Mario Montoya. The prosecutor introduced as evidence sworn statements from three colonels, all of which indicated that General Montoya had approved paramilitary participation in "Operation Phoenix," the operation that led to the massacre. After the National Prison Institute (INPEC) failed to transport key witnesses on February 5, the judge postponed the trial until March 16. She emphasized that the defendants would not be released in the interim since the trial had already begun. End Summary. POLOFF ATTENDS TRIAL -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On February 4, Poloff attended the Medellin-based trial of 10 former members of the 17th Brigade for the February 21, 2005 massacre of eight members -- including three children aged 2, 6, and 10 -- of the San Jose de Apartado Peace Community. Representatives from the European Union and the Embassies of Spain and Sweden were present, along with a standing-room only audience of military personnel, victims' family members, defendants' family members, the press, and several non-governmental organizations (NGOs). ¶3. (U) The trial began in December, and after one day of testimony was postponed until February because the Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalia) had accidentally misdirected several case files to the incorrect office in Medellin. Defendants in the case include a colonel, a major, a lieutenant, a captain, five sergeants, and a corporal. MILITARY COLLUDED WITH AUC IN OPERATION PHOENIX -------------- -- ¶4. (U) The Prosecution's case is based on confessions from former Captain Guillermo Armando Gordillo Sanchez and several former United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) paramilitary members. According to those confessions, the 47th Infantry Battalion of the 17th Brigade colluded with AUC leader Diego Murillo Bejarano's (Don Berna) "Heroes of Tolova" bloc to combat the FARC during the 17th Brigade's "Operation Phoenix." (Note: This was an earlier operation in 2005, not the operation of the same name carried out March 1, 2008, against the Raul Reyes camp site in Ecuador. End note.) During the operation the paramilitary members, serving as "guides" to the military, entered the homes of two Peace Community leaders in the hamlets of La Resbalosa and Mulatos Medios and tortured and beheaded the leaders, their spouses and children, and a friend; the military made no effort to stop the killings. Gordillo and three former AUC members -- Jose Joel Vargas, Jose Luis Salgado, and Adriano Jose Cano -- have confessed to their involvement in the crime and have accepted plea bargains. WITNESSES IMPLICATE MONTOYA -------------- ¶5. (U) In his testimony on February 4, Gordillo said retired Army Commander Mario Montoya, then Seventh Division Commander, had participated in planning sessions for Operation Phoenix and had authorized military cooperation with paramilitary forces. The same day, the Prosecutor introduced as evidence the sworn statements of Colonels Nestor Ivan Duque, Jose Fernando Castro, and Felix Acosta who all attested that Montoya participated in planning Operation Phoenix. TRIAL POSTPONED UNTIL MARCH, CLOSED COURTROOM, INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY INVITED -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) On February 5, after learning the National Prison Institute (INPEC) had failed to transport required witnesses to Medellin from Tierra Alta, Cordoba and Barranquilla, the judge convened a meeting between the defense, prosecution, victims' defense lawyer, and international community representatives to announce the trial had been rescheduled for March 16-18. She emphasized that since the trial had already started, there would be no danger of the defendants being released due to pre-trial detention limits (REFs A and B). ¶7. (SBU) At the request of the defense, the judge agreed the remainder of the trial would be closed to the public, with only the international community permitted to attend. A representative for the U.S.-based accompaniment organization Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) told us they were pleased with the decision since her organization believes the considerable military presence at the trial had been intended to intimidate victims' families. The FOR representative added that they would petition the judge to allow victims' accompaniment groups to attend as well. BROWNFIELD