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DE RUEHBO #0898/01 3342231
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 302231Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1135
INFO RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 8477
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ NOV LIMA 4525
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 5183
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL 3786
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1410

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 010898 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2016 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV MARR KJUS CO
SUBJECT: PDAS FARRAR VISITS SAN JOSE DE APARTADO AND 17TH 
BRIGADE 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood.  Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (U) On November 13, DRL PDAS Jonathan Farrar traveled with 
General Freddy Padilla, Commander of the Colombian Armed 
Forces, to Apartado, Antioquia Department to meet with local 
officials, police and military leaders.  PDAS Farrar and his 
delegation also met separately with members of the San Jose 
de Apartado "peace community" of La Holandita.  Members of 
the peace community rejected GOC assistance, claimed 
continued threats from security forces and paramilitaries, 
and reiterated their refusal to cooperate with the official 
investigation into the February 21, 2005 massacre of peace 
community members in La Resbalosa.  GOC and local officials 
outlined infrastructure, health, and social services programs 
in the area, especially for displaced communities.  17th 
Brigade Commander General Zapata explained the current 
security situation, his soldiers, human rights training, and 
community outreach.  Spokespersons for the peace community 
alleged abiding threats from the military and paramilitaries, 
while a neighboring community in San Jose de Apartado praised 
the social services provided by the GOC.  None of the 
delegation's interlocutors had ideas or initiatives to reduce 
the distrust between the peace community and its neighbors, 
GOC officials, and the security forces.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
GOC Strategy To Expand Services In San Jose de Apartado 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶2. (C) Jaime Avendano, an official from GOC local government 
assistance program Accion Integral, listed GOC objectives in 
Apartado as establishing GOC control of territory, 
reintegrating demobilized paramilitaries, ensuring justice 
for victims of paramilitary violence, and reconstructing the 
region's social fabric through recreational and cultural 
activities.  The Apartado Mayor,s Office highlighted health, 
education, and rural development programs, some funded by 
USAID.  General Padilla stressed that GOC programs to extend 
civilian services to rural areas were crucial to achieving 
long-term security.  Given the peace community's refusal to 
engage with the GOC, General Padilla said the GOC's strategy 
is to step up social service and infrastructure improvements 
in the surrounding area to encourage community members to 
reintegrate with their neighbors. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
17th Brigade Explains Human Rights Progress, Outreach 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶3. (C) General Zapata, commander of the 17th Brigade, said 
all illegal armed groups operated in the greater Uraba 
region, but the 17th Brigade was making progress in 
containing them.  The 17th Brigade had strengthened its 
culture of respect for human rights through prevention 
(training and education), deterrence (severe punishment for 
violators), control (effective investigations into human 
rights abuses), and integration (strengthening 
inter-institutional coordination).  Zapata said 5,795 brigade 
members received human rights training in 2006. 
 
¶4. (C) He also highlighted examples of the brigade's outreach 
to San Jose de Apartado, including providing medical 
attention as well as sports and recreation programs.  The 
brigade also had set up a public library and park.  Zapata 
said the military had offered services to the peace community 
of La Holandita, but the community has rejected all offers. 
He added that the military and international human rights 
groups were in direct contact on peace community issues 
through the Ministry of Defense in Bogota.  The visit also 
found little progress in resolving allegations of past abuses 
by members of the 17th Brigade; most investigations of such 
abuses are being handled by the Human Rights Unit of the 
National Prosecutor's Office in Medellin. 
 
-------------- 
Police Efforts 
-------------- 
 
¶5. (C) The head of the Colombian National Police (CNP) in 
Uraba told Farrar the police met on a weekly basis with 
representatives of international human rights groups residing 
in the peace community to ensure their safety and listen to 
 
their concerns.  He said relations with the San Jose de 
Apartado community were excellent, but noted that the La 
Holandita peace community, about 600 people out of SJdA's 
7,000 inhabitants, did not accept police protection. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
La Holandita Peace Community Opens Gate For PDAS Farrar 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶6. (C) The peace community meeting was tightly structured, 
with designated spokespersons making prepared statements and 
other community members reticent to speak.  The spokespersons 
alleged ongoing threats from the army and paramilitaries and 
explained their decision to refuse most contact with the 
national and local government.  They itemized a long list of 
alleged abuses against the community by the army, police, and 
paramilitaries, dating back 10 years.  The spokespersons said 
they refused to cooperate with the Office of the Prosecutor 
General's  investigations into such violations because "the 
army kills the witnesses."  They recognized GOC offers to 
provide the community with social services, but said they 
would not accept them until the GOC recognized four 
conditions: 1) President Uribe making a public statement in 
support of peace communities; 2) the military completely 
withdrawing from all areas of San Jose de Apartado; 3) the 
GOC's reconvening of a Commission of Investigation; and 4) 
the GOC guaranteeing that all humanitarian zones be 
respected.  From side conversations with members of the 
community, it became clear that they quietly avail themselves 
of GOC services such as urgent medical care and secondary 
school education. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
Other SJdA Citizens: Peace Community Does Not Speak For Us 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶7. (C) The contrast between the peace community and San Jose 
de Apartado meetings was striking.  San Jose de Apartado 
participants were outspoken, even in the presence of GOC 
security forces.  They expressed general consensus that the 
area was much safer since the police and military had 
reestablished presence there.  They said the overall 
community of San Jose de Apartado was now "a mix of different 
cultures" due to the recent return of displaced groups.  They 
pointed out that greater community of San Jose de Apartado 
did not share the "radical" position of the peace community 
of La Holandita. 
 
¶8. (C) Community leaders highlighted the need for more 
schools, better roads, and resolution of land right issues 
(including title to the school property that was the site of 
the meeting), but noted GOC efforts to improve basic 
education and healthcare.  They praised the GOC's 
construction of a road linking San Jose de Apartado to the 
county seat of Apartado municipality (which passes in front 
of the peace community), noting that this had improved their 
economic prospects as well as their overall quality of life. 
They recognized the military's efforts to improve relations 
with the civilian population, but said abuses by individual 
soldiers continue.  At the end of the meeting, the human 
rights ombudsman and local prosecutor, clearly agitated, 
pulled aside PDAS Farrar to relate that abuses continue, 
especially with troops deployed in rural areas or with new 
recruits. 
 
¶9. (U) PDAS Farrar cleared this cable. 
WOOD