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C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 002392 

SIPDIS 

SIPDIS 

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2017 
TAGS: KJUS PGOV PINR PREL PTER CO
SUBJECT: GOC PROTECTS LAND RIGHTS ACTIVIST 

REF: A. BOGOTA 923 

     ¶B. BOGOTA 1013 

Classified By: Political Counselor John S. Creamer.
Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d) 

------- 
Summary 
------- 

¶1.  (C) Cordoba department land activist Eloina Gaspar told 
us on March 25 she was being threatened by people who had 
identified her as the replacement for Popular Housing 
Organization founder Yolanda Izquierdo, murdered in late 
January (ref A).  On April 1, the Prosecutor General's Office 
moved Gaspar out of Monteria to Cali with her 16-year-old 
son.  Justice and Interior Minister Holguin told the Charge 
April 10 the GOC is protecting 30 high-profile victims' 
advocates, including ten from Cordoba (septel).  End summary. 

---------------------------- 
GOC Protecting Land Activist 
---------------------------- 

¶2.  (C) On our March 25-26 trip to Monteria, Cordoba 
department, land activist Eloina Gaspar told us her life was 
in danger and she wanted to leave Cordoba.  She said the 
Police checked her house at least once a day to ensure her 
safety and the Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalia) 
promised her to send her to another city (which they did on 
April 1, moving Gaspar and her 16-year-old son to XXXXXXXXXXXX where 
XXXXXXXXXXXX).  Gaspar subsequently told us the Police in 
XXXXXXXXXXXX checked on her welfare several times a day.  She was 
already looking for a job.  The Fiscalia promised they would 
also try to help her two older sons, who remained in 
Monteria, to move to XXXXXXXXXXXX at a later date.  Gaspar told us 
she was grateful for the help she had received from the GOC 
thus far and she was going to try to slowly disengage from 
the Popular Housing Organization. 

¶3.  (C) Gaspar replaced Popular Housing Organization founder 
Yolanda Izquierdo, who was murdered in late January.  She 
told us she had tried to avoid becoming a target, but her 
close relationship with Izquierdo and her leadership within 
the group of plot owners or "parceros," prevented her from 
being a "spectator."  XXXXXXXXXXXX, 
told us two people with alleged paramilitary ties, Diego 
Sierra and Sor Teresa Gomez, were responsible for Izquierdo's
murder in Monteria.  He said Sor Teresa Gomez's associates 
had identified Gaspar as Izquierdo's replacement, and had 
made threats in an effort to persuade her to retract the 
claim that Gomez participated in the killing of Izquierdo. 

------------------------------------------ 
GOC Improving Victim Protection Mechanisms 
------------------------------------------ 

¶4.  (C) TheFiscalia's Technical Investigative Corps Cordoba 
Director Cerly Otero said the Fiscalia's victims' protection 
program was good, but still needed work on implementation. 
Otero told us the GOC's failure to protect the life of people 
like Izquierdo reflected a lack of resources and experience. 
XXXXXXXXXXXX told us on April 10 the Fiscalia's victims' 
protection program was cutting off victims from their 
personal support networks and rewarding the "bad people" by 
relocating them.  He insisted the GOC's victims' protection 
program should be able to protect victims in their 
communities. 

¶5.  (C) Cordoba's Police Commander Col. Jaime Velasco warned 
that the lack of resources made the police unable to respond 
to the vast number of requests for protection.  Velasco said 
he had divided the city into quadrants to patrol, helping to 
ensure the safety of those under protection.  Cordoba's 
Ombudswoman Julia Rodriguez said claims of threats had 
increased significantly in the last two years.  Rodriguez 
regarded this a sign that people felt safe to make 
complaints, but said additional protection was needed.  In 
late March, the GOC announced special measures to provide 
protection to advocates representing claims brought forth by 
the victims of paramilitary violence.  Interior Minister 
Holguin told the Charge April 10 the GOC was protecting 30 
high-profile individuals in this category, including 10 from 
Cordoba and 16 from San Onofre, Sucre department.

--------------------------------------- 
Background on Yolanda Izquierdo's Group 
--------------------------------------- 

¶6.  (C) Victim right's activist Yolanda Izquierdo was a 
leader of the Popular Housing Organization, a group that 
assists Internally Displaced Persons to reclaim land seized 
by paramilitary groups.  Izquierdo, who was murdered on 
January 31 in Cordoba department, was one of several hundred 
to have received parcels on 10,000 hectares of land turned 
over by Fidel Castano in 1989 (ref B).  Castano channeled the 
land through the Foundation for Peace in Cordoba (FUNPAZCOR) 
to gain favor with local families and to create a "buffer 
zone" against the FARC.  XXXXXXXXXXXX told us in 1995-1996 Gomez 
and Sierra ordered the families off the land. He said the two 
have been exploiting the land ever since, even though 
Izquierdo and other displaced families retain title. 

¶7.  (C) With the start of the Justice and Peace Law process, 
Izquierdo and others saw an opportunity to reclaim their land 
and demand reparations.  Gomez began to press the families to 
sell their titles to her at below-market rates.  XXXXXXXXXXXX 
saidIzquierdo had publicly opposed such a sale and had 
encouraged other families to do so as well, leading Gomez and 
Sierra to "silence her."  The threats against Izquierdo's
life began in December 2006, after she had encouraged about 
800 families to fill out the Justice and Peace Law forms to 
enable them to obtain reparations as AUC victims.  The GOC 
has arrested Izquierdo's assassin and has issued two arrest 
warrants for the intellectual authors of the murder, Diego 
Sierra and Sor Teresa Gomez. 
Drucker

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