VZCZCXYZ0019
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #8056/01 3181930
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141930Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0103
INFO RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 9533
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ NOV LIMA 5625
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 6252
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL 4168
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

UNCLAS BOGOTA 008056 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS CO
SUBJECT: RECENT HUMAN RIGHTS CASES DEMONSTRATE PROGRESS 
 
-------- 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
 
¶1.  The Prosecutor General's office (Fiscalia)--supported by 
the GOC ans using evidence generated by the Justice and Peace 
Law (JPL)--has made progess on human rights.  The Fiscalia is 
considering asking the Supreme Court to re-open proceedings 
against retired military generals Rito Alejo del Rio and Ivan 
Ramirez based on paramilitary leaders' testimony in the JPL. 
A court convicted three soldiers for their involvement in a 
1997 massacre in Meta, and a special labor judge convicted 
former paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso for the murder 
of a labor union president.  The Ministry of Social 
Protection is holding a series of interagency workshops with 
union leaders to gather evidence to support the investigation 
and prosecution of violence against labor unionists. End 
Summary 
 
------------------- 
DEL RIO AND RAMIREZ 
------------------- 
 
¶2.  The Prosecutor General's office (Fiscalia) is considering 
recommending that the Supreme Court re-open cases against 
retired generals Rito Alejo del Rio and Ivan Ramirez for 
their links to paramilitary groups.  The Medellin-based Human 
Right Unit is reviewing JPL testimony by former paramilitary 
leaders Salvatore Mancuso and Ever Veloza (HH) linking these 
generals--as well s other officers--to paramilitary crimes. 
The Fiscalia absolved Del Rio of ties to illegal groups while 
he was commanding the 17th Brigade from 1995 to 1997. 
Ramirez served as commander of the Second Brigade in 
Barranquilla during a period of increased paramilitary 
violence. We revoked the visas of Ivan Ramirez and Rito Alejo 
del Rio in 1998 and 1999 respectively on terrorism and 
narcotrafficking concerns, 
 
-------------------------------- 
CONVICTIONS IN META MASSACRE 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  On October 23, a Villavicencio court sentenced Francisco 
Enrique Gomez Vergaro, Arnoldo Vergara Trespalacios and 
Leonardo Montoya Rubiano to 40 years in prison for their 
roles in the July 1997 massacre of 36 people in Meta. The 
case, prosecuted by the Fiscalia's Human Rights unit, 
occurred when paramilitaries entered Mapiripan and murdered 
the villagers, dumping an undetermined number into the 
Guaviare River.  This is the second set of convictions in the 
case. Retired Colonel Lino Hernando Sanchez Prado, NCO Jose 
Miller Uruea Diaz and NCO Juan Carlos Gamarra Polo were 
previously convicted and sentenced to 40 years for the crime. 
 A judge's decision in the case against General Uscategui, 
the senior officer involved, has been pedning for over two 
years.  The Fiscalia has complained to judicial oversight 
bodies about the delay, and has recommended a 40 year 
sentence for Uscategui. Uscategui is under house arrest. 
 
------------------------------------- 
CONVICTION IN MURDER OF USO PRESIDENT 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  Former United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) 
leader Salvatore Mancuso was convicted along with two other 
paramilitary members for the murder of Auri Sarah Marrugo, 
president of the Union Sindical Obrera, (USO), a Ecopetrol 
union, and her driver/bodyguard, Enrique Arellano Torres in 
November 2001.  A special labor judge sentenced Mancuso to to 
40 years in prison--the maximum sentence under Colombian law. 
 The murders will be added to his list of crimes as he 
continues to participate in the JPL process. 
 
-------------- 
UNION PATRIOTA 
-------------- 
 
¶5.  The Human Rights Unit of the Fiscalia announced on 
November 7 that it had reopened 294 cases related to the 
murders of members of the Union Patriota political party in 
the mid 1980s and early 1990s.  Human rights groups claim 
more than than 2500 members of the party were killed from 
1986-94. A ten-person commission, selected by Prosecutor 
General Mario Iguaran, examined 527 cases and found 
sufficient information to reopen 294 of them. Much of the new 
information comes from the "version libre" testimony of 
former paramilitaries under the JPL process.  The Union 
Patriotica was created in 1985, as part of President 
Belisario Betancur's peace process with the FARC.  Several 
FARC leaders, including current Secretariat member Ivan 
Marquez, participated in the party. 
 
------------------------------ 
ADVANCING LABOR INVESTIGATIONS 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6. On November 6, the GOC launched a series of workshops to 
improve investigation and prosecution of cases against labor 
leaders.  The Ministry of Social Protection (MSP) held the 
first workshop in Bogota, and will host similar workshops in 
eight other cities to solicit input from local unions and 
prosecutors. Vice President Francisco Santos, Prosecutor 
General Mario Iguaran, Minister of Social Protection Diego 
Palacios Betancourt, human rights prosecutors, and three 
judges assigned to handle labor cases participated in the 
Bogota event.  Local International Labor Organization (ILO) 
representative Marcelo Castro, National Association of 
Industry Director (ANDI) Alberto Echavarria, and Colombian 
labor confederation and local unions representatives also 
presented their views.  Echavarria called for increased GOC 
actionon the invesgtigations. 
 
¶7.  The workshop's participants received an overview of the 
status of convictions achieved so far, the commitments laid 
out in the ILO-brokered Tripartite agreement, and the 
provisions guaranteed to Colombian workers through Colombian 
law, ILO conventions, and other international agreements.  So 
far, the GOC prosecuted 56 of the labor violence cases 
identified by the ILO, sending 118 criminals to prison.  The 
new labor sub-unit of the Fiscalia, which began its work in 
January 2007, prosecuted eight of those cases.  The National 
University facilitated information sharing from the labor 
confederations regarding cases for which little or no 
information currently exists, thus helping the Fiscalia begin 
investigating those cases.  Many of the case involving 
unionists occurred years ago, with investigators lacking 
basic details about the murders. 
Brownfield