SOME DEVELOPMENTS IN WIRETAPPING SCANDAL, BUT MOST

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 000323 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/22 TAGS: PGOV PREL KJUS PHUM PTER CO SUBJECT: SOME DEVELOPMENTS IN WIRETAPPING SCANDAL, BUT MOST HIGHER-UPS STILL UNTOUCHED REF: 09 BOGOTA 3185 CLASSIFIED BY: Mark A. Wells, Political Counselor; REASON: 1.4(B), (D) ¶1. (SBU) Vice Prosecutor General Fernando Pareja told Poloff on February 10 that the Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalia) continues to progress with four concurrent cases involving former Administrative Department of Security (DAS) employees implicated in illegal wiretapping and intelligence gathering (reftel). On January 26, the Fiscalia indicted seven mid-level officials, all imprisoned, who worked in the Intelligence Division under Deputy Director Jose Narvaez on charges of: conspiracy to commit criminal activity, illegal use of wire intercepts and abuse of office. Pareja said he expected the additional arrests of 19 lower-level DAS investigators and police officers on similar charges. ¶2. (SBU) Regarding the case against four former DAS Directors who comprised the operations cell "G3" which allegedly collected intelligence about NGOs, only one suspect, G3 creator Jorge Noguera, remains in custody for the alleged murders of three labor unionists and a college professor, as well as links to paramilitaries. Pareja predicted the "G3" case would conclude within a month and was less complicated because the inquisitorial system (Law 600) would be applied. In one regrettable development, G3 Coordinator and key witness Javier Ovalle died of pancreatic cancer in late January. However, the Supreme Court penal chamber heard testimony February 15 against Noguera from former DAS chief of counterintelligence Jorge Lagos, who is also under investigation for alleged illegal surveillance. Lagos testified that DAS officials had been known to threaten members of the opposition and journalists under Noguera's administration. Lagos claimed ignorance of the G3's existence during his DAS tenure, but emphasized that under former DAS Director Andres Penate's leadership, there had been evidence of strong links between DAS' coastal directorates and the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). ¶3. (SBU) Pareja conceded there were shortcomings with exploiting evidence under the newer accusatory system (Law 906) in the case against G3's successor, the Group of National and International Observation (GONI). Pareja mentioned that the Prosecutor General's Office had requested Embassy FBI assistance in reconstructing information which had been erased from the computer hard drives used in GONI's illicit operations. This assistance, Pareja stressed, would be critical to helping achieve a successful prosecution under Law 906. Post's Judicial and Legal Attaches are scheduled to meet with Pareja February 23 to determine what if any support can be provided. ¶4. (C) Pareja remained tight-lipped about the most recent illegal wiretap case known as "las chuzadas" being personally handled by Acting Prosecutor General Mendoza. The case involves high-ranking National Technical Corps (CTI, the Prosecutor General's judicial police force) and Colombian National Police (CNP) officials whose purported illicit activity has been linked to individuals working at the Presidential Palace. He expressed confidence that in time the investigation would reveal that the orders to conduct the illicit wiretaps came from senior levels of the GOC. BROWNFIELD