VZCZCXYZ0273
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #0918/01 0672355
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 072355Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1827

UNCLAS BOGOTA 000918 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS TO DIANE KOHN, INL/C/P 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCOR KCRM CO
SUBJECT: COLOMBIA RESPONSE TO 2008 IAGGA REPORT 
 
REF: SECSTATE 18836 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  The GOC continues to make progress on fighting corruption 
and increasing accountability and transparency.  In the past 
two years, the GOC took significant steps to reform its 
criminal justice system, increase transparency in public 
expenditure, modernize public procurement, and ensure 
accountability in government programs.  When USG funding of 
an effective public enterprise internal audit system ended, 
the GOC assumed financial responsibility of the program.  The 
USG supported criminal justice reform, anti-corruption 
training for law enforcement personnel, and the development 
of citizens, groups.  END SUMMARY 
 
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GOC Anti-Corruption Efforts 
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¶2.  The GOC continues to make progress in its anti-corruption 
efforts.  On January 1, 2008, the GOC completed its 
multi-year transition from a criminal justice system based on 
a cumbersome, written accusatory system to an oral accusatory 
system.  The new system ensures greater transparency through 
public court proceedings and trials, as well as greater 
accountability of justice sector officials.  The new system 
is also more efficient, producing a 75 percent reduction in 
the time needed to resolve criminal cases and a 60 percent 
conviction rate, up from three percent under the old system. 
 
¶3.  In 2007, the GOC launched a "Visible Audits Program" 
aimed at involving beneficiaries and local governments in the 
review of public investments in health, potable water, 
education and housing.  More than 150 public meetings were 
held throughout the country last year, and a similar number 
is planned for 2008.  This initiative has already proven 
successful in improving transparency and efficiency of GOC 
investments and in identifying specific cases of corruption. 
For example, local government and civil society engagement 
prompted the completion of a housing project in Cordoba 
department, where homes were finally delivered to vulnerable 
groups after a construction delay of three years. 
 
¶4.  The GOC modernized the public procurement 
process--eliminating exemptions to open and full 
competition--and incorporated public audiences in the award 
process.  Today, the Unified Contracting Portal (Portal Unico 
de Contracion) website contains detailed information on all 
scheduled government bids. 
 
¶5.  The GOC assumed control of an internal control program 
for public entities after USG funding ended in 2006.  The 
program has been implemented in 80 national entities and 22 
sub-national entities.  The GOC issued presidential 
directives to ensure the effective implementation of the 
internal control's standards and to provide technical 
assistance to all public entities. 
 
¶6.  The GOC annually publishes the approved national budget 
and amendments made during the fiscal year online.  The 
published data include regular detailed updates of revenues 
and expenditures. 
 
¶7.  The GOC continues to proceed with other measures to 
promote transparency, including its announcement to join the 
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in March 
2007 and partially privatizing the state-owned hydrocarbons 
company, Ecopetrol.  In addition to these national measures, 
the central government has supported efforts to increase 
accountability at the departmental and municipal levels where 
a significant portion of revenues are transferred under 
constitutional mandate. 
 
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USG Anti-Corruption Assistance 
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¶8.  The USG is a strong supporter of Colombia's 
anti-corruption and transparency efforts.  The primary USG 
agencies implementing programs remain USAID and DOJ. 
 
¶9.  The USG provided training, technical assistance, 
equipment and operating funds to the Colombian justice sector 
to facilitate the implementation of the new oral accusatory 
system.  Over the past three years, the USG trained over 
6,000 prosecutors, 20,000 investigators, 2,000 judges, 1,000 
forensic experts, and 1,300 public defenders.  Additionally, 
the USG constructed or refurbished four public defender 
offices, helped establish a public defender training school, 
and installed six virtual courtrooms in isolated rural areas. 
 
 
¶10.  In FY2007, the USG conducted 24 anti-corruption seminars 
for 621 Colombian law enforcement personnel throughout the 
country.  Each seminar included participants from the 
Colombian National Police, Department of Administrative 
Security, and the Prosecutor General's Office.  Eleven 
seminars addressed transparency and anti-corruption topics, 
including how to develop and implement anti-corruption 
strategies.  Seven seminars taught leadership skills and 
initiatives to institute internal supervisory controls to 
reduce corrupt practices and behavior by subordinates.  Six 
seminars focused on conflict negotiation and resolution, and 
were designed to arm supervisors with the skills to 
communicate effectively with subordinates and the public. 
 
¶11.  The USG provided micro-grants to 500 citizen oversight 
groups.  Approximately 70 percent of the groups continued 
performing citizen oversight initiatives with either their 
own resources or private sector funding after USG assistance 
was suspended in 2006. 
 
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USG Diplomatic Efforts 
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¶12.  Where appropriate, the USG continues to promote 
anti-corruption and transparency in its diplomatic 
interactions, including encouraging the GOC to join EITI. 
Brownfield