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UNCLAS BOGOTA 000059 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS CO
SUBJECT: DECEMBER 2008: HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  The civilian Prosecutor General's Office announced 
investigations against four former generals for alleged 
previous ties to now-demobilized paramilitaries.  On December 
20, the FARC kidnapped ten men from Arrayanes (Meta).  The 
Southern Bloc of the FARC admitted to the December 7 
"mistake" killing of two medical workers in Caqueta.  The 
Prosecutor General's office ordered the arrest of five 
soldiers for the alleged extrajudicial killings of two men 
reported as combat deaths in Magdalena in 2001, and the 
Inspector General's office announced the investigation of 
seven soldiers in the Tarqui Battalion in Boyaca for the 
murder of seven men in Boyaca in 2004.  On December 12, Jorge 
Noguera, former director of the Department of Administrative 
Security (DAS), was re-arrested on charges of paramilitary 
collaboration.  The Bogota Superior Court overturned an 
arrest order against "Semana" news magazine Director 
Alejandro Santos after claims the order represented an attack 
on press freedom.  End summary. 
 
FOUR RETIRED GENERALS INVESTIGATED FOR PARA TIES 
--------------------- -------------------------- 
 
¶2.  Four former Army Generals are under formal investigation 
by the Prosecutor General's office (Fiscalia) for alleged 
previous ties to the now demobilized United Self-Defense 
Forces of Colombia (AUC).  Carlos Alberto Ospina 
(ex-commander of the armed forces), Julio Eduardo Charry 
(ex-military commander of the Uraba region), Ivan Ramirez 
Quintero (ex-commander of the 1st Division), and Rito Alejo 
del Rio (ex-commander of the 17th Brigade) were accused of 
connections to the AUC and reportedly named in testimony 
("versions libres") by ex-AUC leaders, including Salvatore 
Mancuso and Francisco Villalba.  Mancuso testified that Del 
Rio met with now deceased -AUC leader Carlos Castano in 
Cordoba in 1996 and 1997, and collaborated with Castano 
against the FARC.  Mancuso claimed that Freddy Rendon (El 
Aleman) and Mancuso met with Ivan Ramirez and Julio Charry. 
Villalba testified that Ospina provided support from the 4th 
Brigade in the AUC massacre of 19 at El Aro in October 1997. 
 
¶3.  Prosecutor General Mario Iguaran authorized the 
investigations on December 12.  The four retired generals are 
in jail pending investigation, and have denied involvement 
with the AUC.  As former generals, their cases would be heard 
by the Supreme Court.  Del Rio is currently incarcerated at 
the Infantry School in Bogota due to possible connections to 
homicides and collaboration with paramilitaries during his 
time in Uraba, and Ramirez is incarcerated in the Engineering 
Battalion in Bogota for connections to the 1985 Palacio de 
Justicia case. 
 
FARC KIDNAPPINGS CONTINUE 
------------------------- 
 
¶4.  On December 20, the FARC kidnapped ten men in Arrayanes 
(Meta). Police commander Fabio Antonio Leal in Villavicencio 
said the abducted men ranged in age from 19 to 50, and were 
likely taken as forced recruits for the FARC. 
 
FARC ADMITS TO ATTACK ON MEDICS 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  The Southern Bloc of the FARC admitted on December 23, to 
killing two medical workers on December 7 in San Vincente de 
Caguan.  The two were killed when the FARC set off a bomb 
near their vehicle.  Three others were wounded.  The medical 
workers were part of a Colombian Institute of Family Wellness 
(ICBF) medical aid team.  The FARC said the attack was a 
"mistake," and claimed they thought the vehicle belonged to 
an Army Anti-Kidnapping units (Gaula).  The FARC also killed 
eight police in Arauca on December 5. 
 
EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLING ARRESTS 
----------------------------- 
 
¶6.  The Barranquilla branch of the Prosecutor General's 
office on December 24, ordered the arrest of five soldiers 
for the alleged 2001 extrajudicial killing of two merchants 
whose deaths were reported as FARC killed in combat.  The 
order reversed a ruling in favor of the soldiers made by a 
Military Penal Justice panel in Santa Marta in January 2006. 
The suspects include a sergeant and four professional 
soldiers from the Infantry Battalion Cordoba based in 
Magdalena.  The murders occurred on July 29, 2001, when the 
five soldiers claimed the two men were FARC planting an 
explosive charge on a railway line owned by the Drummond 
mining company.  The Fiscalia reported that autopsies showed 
that the shots that killed the men were fired at point-blank 
range.  Investigators said the soldiers gave contradictory 
statements about the incident, and indicated the men had no 
ties to the FARC. 
 
¶7.  The Inspector General's office (Procuraduria) announced 
an investigation of seven soldiers from the Tarqui Battalion 
in Boyaca for the murder of seven individuals.  The seven 
were reported as enemies killed in combat after the soldiers 
entered a private home in Labranzagrande, Boyaca on May 8, 
¶2004.  Details of the engagement as described by the soldiers 
were not supported by forensic evidence found at the scene. 
Both the Prosecutor General and the Inspector General have 
publicized new extrajudicial killing investigations and 
arrests in recent months. 
 
EX-DAS DIRECTOR NOGUERA RE-ARRESTED 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  On December 12, on direct order from Prosecutor General 
Mario Iguaran, Jorge Noguera, former director of the 
Department of Administrative Security (DAS), was re-arrested 
on charges of paramilitary collaboration.  Noguera was 
originally charged and detained on February 22, 2007, 
released on a legal technicality, re-arrested on June 6, 
2007, and again released in March, 2008 due to errors in 
arrest orders.  Noguera's second re-arrest should allow the 
trial against him to proceed. 
 
ARREST ORDER FOR MAGAZINE DIRECTOR OVERTURNED 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  The Penal Chamber of the Bogota Superior Court overturned 
an arrest order against "Semana" magazine Director Alejandro 
Santos issued by Magistrate Jose Alfredo Escobar of the 
Superior Judicial Council.  Escobar issued the arrest order 
after asking Semana for a retraction of an article entitled 
"The Experts of Justice," which Escobar considered libel. 
The arrest order sparked protests by press freedom groups, 
including Inter-American Society of the Press (SIP).  Santos 
said the order was "intimidation" and represented a message 
to the media to stop reporting on Court corruption. 
NICHOLS