VZCZCXYZ0026
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #8025/01 3171437
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131437Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0074
INFO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 0621
RUEHSW/AMEMBASSY BERN PRIORITY 1321
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES PRIORITY 2100
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 9526
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ NOV 9042
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 5618
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 9986
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA PRIORITY 0809
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 6245
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO PRIORITY 2364
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL PRIORITY 4161

UNCLAS BOGOTA 008025 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KJUS AR CI GM SP SZ CO
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S NOVEMBER 6 MEETING WITH CNRR 
PRESIDENT EDUARDO PIZARRO 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (U) National Commission for Reconciliation and Reparations 
(CNRR) President Eduardo Pizarro thanked the Ambassador for 
USG support, reviewed CNRR progress in addressing legitimacy, 
organizational and coordination challenges, and outlined his 
future priorities in a November 6 meeting. He noted that 
human rights groups, especially in Bogota, continue to 
question the CNRR's legitimacy, but said the Commission has 
made inroads with victims' groups in rural areas. Pizarro 
said the CNRR's top priorities involve expanding its network 
of regional offices and changing the reparation scheme from a 
judicial process to an administrative approach. He 
volunteered to organize U.S. congressional delegations 
meetings with victims.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) The Ambassador paid a courtesy call on November 6 to 
National Commission for Reconciliation and Reparations (CNRR) 
President Eduardo Pizarro. USAID Director and Polcouns also 
participated. 
 
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CNRR Challenges 
--------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Pizarro said the CNRR faced serious legitimacy, 
organizational and coordination challenges when it began work 
two years ago.  Many human rights groups opposed the Justice 
and Peace Law (JPL) and refused to work with the CNRR. "Our 
legitimacy with human rights groups equaled ten degrees below 
zero," Pizarro commented. The CNRR also lacked employees, 
office space, and clear guidance on how to approach its task. 
Moreover, inter-agency rivalries complicated efforts to 
coordinate the CNRR's work with the multiple GOC agencies 
involved in attending victims' needs. These difficulties made 
many international donors reluctant to support the CNRR's 
work, further hindering its efforts to get off the ground. 
Pizarro thanked the USG for its support, adding that the USG 
had helped the CNRR from its inception. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Pizarro noted that the CNRR has made progress in 
overcoming these obstacles. Through its work with victims, 
the CNRR has made some inroads with human rights groups, 
especially in rural areas. Progress has moved slowly with 
Bogota-based groups, which tend to exhibit more ideological 
behavior which reflects the country's political polarization. 
 "Our legitimacy has climbed to seven degrees below zero," 
Pizarro remarked.  He conceded that the CNRR's failure to 
provide direct benefits to victims to date has hurt the 
Commission, but noted that similar reparations efforts in 
Argentina, Chile and Spain required several years before they 
became effective. CNRR's credibility would improve as it 
begins to deliver concrete reparations to more victims. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Pizarro said CNRR has built the institutional and 
analytical framework needed to implement effective reparation 
programs. In addition to its central office, CNRR has set up 
regional offices in Sincelejo, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, and 
Medellin. The regional offices contain one-stop, 
informational centers for victims, enabling the CNRR to help 
victims to enroll in the process, as well as to receive legal 
and psychological assistance. They also house a one-stop 
"disappeared persons" identification unit. Pizarro said 
interagency collaboration remains an issue, but added that 
the creation of an inter-agency JPL coordination committee 
chaired by Interior and Justice Minister Holguin has improved 
cooperation. These advances have allowed the CNRR to assist 
25,000 of the 80,000 victims who have registered to date in 
the JPL process. 
 
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FUTURE PRIORITIES 
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¶6. (SBU) Asked about the CNRR's priorities, Pizarro said the 
CNRR focuses on: 1) increasing the number of its regional 
offices, and 2) changing the mechanism for compensating 
victims from the judicial process to an administrative 
 
approach. He noted that the CNRR plans to increase its 
regional offices from five to twelve, adding sites in Cali, 
Valledupar, Neiva, Pasto, Cartagena, and Mocoa. USAID 
provides support for the Valledupar, Bogota, Medellin,and 
Bucaramanga centers and plans to fund the Choco office. The 
Germans and Swiss will fund some of the new offices, but the 
CNRR will need funding from other donors as well. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Pizarro said the CNRR will also need international 
support for the shift from judicial reparations to an 
administrative process. The CNRR's review of other countries' 
experiences with judicial reparations shows that such 
processes do not work. The judicial route seems especially 
inappropriate for Colombia given the large number of victims, 
most of whom are poorly educated women living in rural areas. 
To date, not a single victim has received compensation 
through the JPL process. An administrative approach would 
provide more efficient and timely relief. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Pizarro said the CNNR envisions a two-stage 
reparations model. In the first stage, the GOC would ensure 
that victims benefit from the full range of existing GOC 
health, education, training, and welfare programs. In the 
second, the GOC would pay small pensions to victims.  Pizarro 
acknowledged that the GOC lacks the resources to pay pensions 
to all victims at once. The CNRR proposed that the GOC 
phase-in pensions over a five-year period, starting with the 
most vulnerable such a widows, handicapped, and the elderly. 
He said the CNRR will draft a decree, as well as new 
legislation, to implement the program. Pizarro admitted that 
neither the CNRR nor the GOC has prepared a budget for the 
proposal. 
 
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RESTITUTION OF LAND 
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¶9. (SBU) Questioned about restitution of stolen land, Pizarro 
said the administrative compensation scheme would not 
substitute for returning property to their rightful owners. 
The CNRR supports the creation of regional commissions tasked 
with restoring land and other properties to victims. 
President Uribe will soon sign a decree setting up such 
commissions. To date, one family had its Cordoba department 
farm restored, and four more families will receive their 
property back later in November. 
 
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U.S. CONGRESSIONAL MEETINGS WITH VICTIMS 
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¶10. (U) The Ambassador noted that visiting U.S. Congressional 
delegations find meetings with demobilized paramilitaries 
very useful, and asked if the CNRR could arrange similar 
sessions with victims. Pizarro said he would do so, adding 
that eight collective reparations projects remain underway in 
Bogota. 
Brownfield