QUESTIONS ABOUND ON WHETHER AIR STRIKE HIT INDIGENOUS TERRITORY

S E C R E T BOGOTA 000243



SIPDIS

NOFORN



E.O. 12958: DECL: 2035/02/12

TAGS: PTER, MOPS, PINS, PREL, PGOV, PHUM, CO

SUBJECT: QUESTIONS ABOUND ON WHETHER AIR STRIKE HIT INDIGENOUS

TERRITORY



REF: 10 BOGOTA 171



CLASSIFIED BY: Brian A. Nichols, Deputy Chief of Mission; REASON:

1.4(B),(C),(D)



SUMMARY



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1. (S/NF) Post has received disparate accounts of a January 30 air

strike carried out by the Colombia Air Force that occurred in an

area inhabited by indigenous on the border of the Departments of

Choco and Antioquia. Members of the Embera-Katio community told us

the strike hit the Urada-Jiguamiando Reservation injuring a couple

and their infant. However, Colombian Air Force officials said the

strike occurred a few kilometers outside the reservation in a

suspected Revolutionary of Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) camp.

Leading newspaper "El Tiempo" reported a military judge is opening

an investigation and the Colombian military has accepted

responsibility for the incident, although they continue to argue

the air strike was not on indigenous territory. Other information

at Post suggests that the Colombian Air Force's version of events

appears correct, although several details still remain unclear.

What is certain is this incident will increase tensions between the

GOC and the indigenous, who are facing an increase in

conflict-related violence (septel). End Summary.







INDIGENOUS MAINTAIN MILITARY ERRED



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2. (C) On February 4, Poloff and USAID personnel met with Former

Governor of the Urada-Jiguamiando Reservation Arjemino Bailarin,

Embera-Katio indigenous member Alvaro Jubani, and Legal

Representative of the Inter-ecclesiastical Commission for Peace and

Justice (CIJP) Father Alberto Franco to hear their versions of what

happened during the January 30 incident. Bailarin said the air

strike landed on an indigenous family's property while they were

cooking breakfast at 3:00 a.m. and injured three people: a mother,

father, and their 20 day-old baby (a nine-year old son and aunt

were also present, but had no serious injuries). He also told us

the father was hit by shrapnel in the spine and will be unable to

walk, while the mother had shrapnel removed from her leg (see para

8). Jubani, who visited the father in the hospital, confirmed he

was in "serious" condition. The couple is currently being treated

in a hospital in Medellin. Bailarin said the baby "looked" burned

and was taken to a hospital in Apartado, Antioquia, after being

treated by the 17th Brigade. He was concerned that the military

took the baby and aunt to a military hospital without consulting

the community members and that the baby remained separated from his

mother.







3. (C) Both Bailarin and Father Franco rejected the Colombian Air

Force's explanation that the strike targeted the FARC, although

they admitted the FARC has transited the reservation in the past.

They also argued that the FARC could not have been in the area

because the military had entered the zone in December 2009.

Moreover, Bailarin countered assertions by the Colombian military

that there was no good reason for the indigenous to be awake so

early by stating that this showed a lack of understanding of their

culture and Embera-Katio people often rise well before dawn.







4. (C) Bailarin confirmed the Indigenous Organization in Antioquia

(OIA),which initially denounced the incident, is preparing a

formal complaint against the military personnel responsible for the

operation. He told us the Embera-Katio want the military to assume

the medical costs of the injured indigenous, provide reparations to

the whole community, and leave their indigenous territories.





MILITARY SAYS STRIKE HIT OUTSIDE INDIGENOUS TERRITORY



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5. (C) General Tito Pinilla, Chief of Air Operations in the

Colombian Military, told Emboffs on February 2 that the air strikes

by the Seventh Division occurred 2.5 kilometers outside of the

indigenous reservation on a suspected FARC camp. He said an

indigenous man and woman with no licit reason for being in the camp

had been injured in the raid. Pinilla also explained following the

strike, a mother and her sick baby approached the convoy and were

transported along with the suspected FARC members to receive

medical assistance, which may have generated some confusion.

However, he stated that neither the baby nor the mother had been

injured in the strike.







INVESTIGATION TO FOLLOW



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6. (U) On February 9, leading newspaper "El Tiempo" reported that a

military judge is opening an investigation. According to the

article, the Commander of the 17th Brigade General Hernan Giraldo

said the military "accepts responsibility of the incident," but he

added the indigenous family strayed from their territory when they

went out to collect food. He argued it was "bad luck" that the

military had received information that the FARC's 34th Front would

be at that site. General Giraldo mentioned it was the first time

something like this had occurred in the 18 months they had been

operating in the zone. In an interview with the National Radio of

Colombia (RCN) on January 31, President Uribe declared that the

Colombian military is "careful not to bomb civilian areas

infiltrated by illegal armed groups" and cited the "few number of

complaints against the military in the past eight years."







GLEANING THE TRUTH



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7. (S/NF) Other information available at Post suggests that

Pinilla's version of events is largely correct: a sensitive

high-value target operation failed to hit the objective while he

was at the site. Two indigenous, a male and female, were injured

by debris (not shrapnel) resulting from the airstrike. It is not

clear whether the injured female is, in fact, the mother referred

to in para two; we separately confirmed Pinilla's report that a

mother with a dehydrated infant did approach the military convoy

before the incident to request medical assistance. Post was also

able to confirm that the strike was 2.5 kilometers from the

village; GOC information suggests this was beyond the border of the

indigenous reservation. According to other information available

at Post, some members of the Embera-Katio community admitted to

harboring FARC members just a few days prior to the strike.







8. (S/NF) Comment: The contradictory versions of events make it

difficult to determine what happened. What is apparent is that the

GOC has admitted some responsibility for the mistiming of the

bombing. The FARC is increasingly operating in or around

indigenous reservations because of the legal and political

complications the reservations present for the Colombian armed





forces (reftel). The Colombian military knew of the sensitivities

of mounting an operation so close to the indigenous reservation,

but believed it took the appropriate precautions. Perhaps the

investigation by military justice will unravel the story. Either

way, the incident will increase tensions between the GOC and the

indigenous, who are facing an increase in conflict-related violence

(septel). End comment.

BROWNFIELD