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DE RUEHBO #8044/01 3172305
ZNR UUUUU ZZH(CCY TEXT AD002C2809/LOP2225 510)
R 132305Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0094
INFO RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 9528
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ NOV LIMA 5620
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 6247
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL 4163
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

UNCLAS BOGOTA 008044 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C  O  P Y  (CHANGED PARA 7 FROM (C) TO (SBU) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS CO
SUBJECT: MILITARY JUSTICE WORKING GROUP HEARS REFORM 
CHALLENGES 
 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Not for Internet distribution 
 
-------- 
SUMMARY 
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¶1. (SBU) Military Criminal Justice (MPJ) director Luz Marina 
Gil and National Director for Prosecutors of the Prosecutor 
General's office (Fiscalia) Alicia Ledesma outlined their 
plans for greater military-civilian cooperation on human 
rights investigations, including extrajudicial killings, to 
an Embassy-organized working group on military justice. 
Members of the international community voiced support for the 
reforms, and urged greater GOC action to address case 
backlogs and deter new killings.  Representatives from the 
UK, Swedish, Spanish, and Dutch embassies agreed to support 
GOC efforts and to coordinate their assistance programs with 
other donors. End Summary 
 
¶2. (SBU) On November 1, Polcouns hosted the second meeting of 
the "Group of Friends" of Colombian military justice reform. 
Participants included: Swedish Ambassador Lena Nordstrom and 
Poloff Monica Wulfing, British DCM James Darius, Dutch 
Embassy Poloff Hester Jonkman, Spanish Military Attache 
Colonel Jose Maria Arraco Montoya, UN High Commissioner for 
Human Rights office (UNHCHR) Deputy Director Javier 
Hernandez, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 
Official Yves Heller, Vice Minister of Defense Sergio 
Jaramillo, Ministry of Defense Human Rights Office director 
Lieutenant Colonel Juan Carlos Gomez, National Director of 
the Prosecutor General's office Alicia Ledesma, Military 
Criminal Justice director Luz Marina Gil, DOJ/JSRP Manager 
Paul Vaky, and Major Walter Mosher of MILGRP. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
MOD AND FISCALIA EFFORTS ON MILITARY JUSTICE REFORM 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) Gil and Ledesma presented their latest steps on MPJ 
reforms, highlighting increased cooperation between the 
civilian and military systems to improve the speed of new 
investigations and end jurisdictional disputes between 
military and civilian prosecutors.  Gil noted that 
legislation amending the military criminal justice code to 
clarify civilian courts' jurisdiction over human rights and 
international human rights violations will likely be passed 
before the end of the year.  The GOC has worked closely with 
UNHCHR on this issue and believes the bill addresses UNHCHR 
concerns.  Gil said her office is also working to end the 
practice of military judges conducting parallel 
investigations of alleged human rights violations.  These 
investigations complicate civilian investigators' work and 
lead to lengthy delays.  She noted that military judges 
transferred over 100 cases to the civilian courts over the 
last three months with no footdragging. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Gil said the GOC is committed to further reform, but 
this will take time.  Some retired and active duty generals 
resist change, fearing it will undercut the special military 
jurisdiction (fuero) and expose them to prosecution by 
civilians who do not understand military operations or are 
biased against the Armed Forces.  Jaramillo said the MOD is 
testing the waters in congress to see if there is enough 
support for a constitutional amendment that would remove the 
MPJ from the Defense Ministry and make it a specialized 
branch of the civilian judiciary.  She said the shift from 
the inquisitorial to an accusatorial system--scheduled to 
start in 2008--will require substantial resources as well as 
a change in culture. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Ledesma and Gil said greater cooperation between 
military and civilian prosecutors is key to investigating 
extrajudicial killings (EJES).  The Fiscalia has set up a 
sub-unit within the Human Rights unit to focus on EJES, and 
has sent two special commissions to identify cases and 
expedite investigations in Medellin (Antioquia) and 
Villavicencio (Meta).  Fiscalia data shows both areas account 
for a substantial number of alleged EJES.  Ledesma said 
 
civilian prosecutors will need a keen understanding of 
military operational law, noting that killings that would be 
illegal if committed by the police could be legal under 
international humanitarian law and military rules. A key 
factor in making such determinations will be the military's 
rules of engagement (ROEs).  If a death was consistent with 
the ROEs, the Fiscalia could consider it a legitimate combat 
casualty. 
 
 
¶6. (SBU)  Gomez agreed clear ROEs that reflect international 
humanitarian law are crucial.  The MOD issued broad ROEs in 
March, and published them on the MOD website in July. 
Training troops in their application has been a MOD priority 
throughout the year.  Ledesma said the Fiscalia would train a 
limited number of prosecutors and investigators (CTI or 
Technical Investigative Bureau) in ROEs and international 
humanitarian law to help them better analyze these cases. 
Gil added that a USG-funded course involving military and 
civilian prosecutors is set for November 26-29.  Ledesma said 
the CTI would need substantial logistical support from the 
military if it is to investigate all alleged combat deaths. 
(Note: In 2006, the military reported 2200 enemy combat 
deaths.) Jaramillo and Gomez said the military--following 
orders issued by Minister Santos--is committed to 
facilitating transportation of CTI to the scene of all combat 
deaths and would also defer to its investigative authority. 
 
----------------- 
QUESTIONS ON EJES 
----------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU)  Hernandez voiced support for the new reforms, but 
said military officers' suspicion of civilian oversight would 
make implementation difficult.  Some officers continue to see 
civilian prosecutors as part of a juridical war (guerra 
juridica) against the military. Jaramillo replied that the 
new annex to Directive 10, the MOD's directive to prevent 
EJEs, provides specific punishments for field commanders who 
do not implement the new orders.   Officers who cover up 
abuses will be severely punished.  Jaramillo stressed the 
MOD's focus is prevention.  As the Armed Forces strengthen 
internal disciplinary controls and improve understanding of 
operational legal constraints, the number of EJEs will fall. 
The establishment of a greater Fiscalia presence in rural 
areas will also help, because it will facilitate the legal 
detention of illegal armed group members.  He stressed that 
Defense Minister Santos and Armed Forces Commander Padilla 
understand the gravity of the EJE issue and are determined to 
address it. 
 
---------------------------------- 
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) MILGRP shared its legal engagement plan for FY-2008 
and asked other donors to coordinate their activities to 
provide the GOC with focused and effective training.  UK DCM 
Darius said the UK would continue to host workshops on 
lessons learned and best practices.  He also stressed the 
need for more training to help commanders better understand 
human rights law and to preserve the evidentiary chain of 
custody.  Spanish Military Attache Arraco thanked the group 
for inviting Spain to participate and offered to brief the 
GOC on the Spanish military justice system and best 
practices. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Ambassador Nordstrom stressed that Sweden would 
coordinate all future activities with the group.  Sweden had 
sent experts from the Swedish National Defense University to 
pass on lessons learned from the Swedish military justice 
system to the Colombians, and would continue to work to 
improve civilian judicial capacity. Dutch Political Officer 
Jonkman agreed to follow up with the group on what potential 
assistance the Dutch could provide. 
 
¶10. (SBU) UNHCHR and the ICRC agreed to help lobby for 
reforms at the political level and to work with the Fiscalia 
and MPJ to implement the UNHCHR's recommendations from its 
2006 Human Rights report.  Hernandez said UNHCHR provides 
Colombian military judges and military personnel with 
training on international humanitarian and human rights law, 
as well as suggestions on rules of engagement.  Jaramillo, 
Gil, Ledesma and the participating countries said the session 
was extremely valuable in communicating Colombian military 
advances on these issues--as well as coordinating donor 
activities--and agreed to meet regularly in the future. 
Brownfield