VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #0697/01 0611911
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021911Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7468
INFO RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 1741
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ MAR 9964
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA PRIORITY 3113
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 7782
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL PRIORITY 4842
RHMFISS/FBI WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJC/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS BOGOTA 000697 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KJUS PGOV PTER CO
SUBJECT: UNHCHR HIGHLIGHTS COLOMBIAN PROGRESS/CHALLENGES IN 
PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
REF: 08 BOGOTA 4165 
 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (U)  In its draft annual report on human rights, the 
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) 
highlights GOC efforts to ensure human rights protections 
including: implementation of new policies to reduce 
extrajudicial executions, a focus on victims' rights concerns 
in public discourse, the exhumation of common graves and 
identification of victims, and the transfer of human rights 
cases from military to civilian courts.  Still, the report 
identifies areas for improvement and recommends next steps 
for the GOC including: establishing greater discipline and 
command and control of military units, implementing a 
comprehensive response to the growth of illegal armed groups, 
and accelerating implementation of the Justice and Peace Law 
process.  The GOC's response to the report thanks the UNHCHR 
for its assessment, reaffirms its commitment to protecting 
human rights, and commits to addressing the UNHCHR's 
recommendations.  End Summary 
 
Extrajudicial Killings 
---------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U)  The UNHCHR draft annual report on human rights in 
Colombia (protect until public release) emphasizes the grave 
nature of the extrajudicial executions committed by security 
forces, and notes that the Prosecutor General's (Fiscalia) 
Human Rights Unit is investigating 716 cases related to over 
1,100 victims.  The report points out that some military 
commanders' practice of offering economic incentives and 
additional leave benefits to soldiers who killed enemy 
fighters might have led to extrajudicial killings. 
 
¶3.  (U)  The report praises GOC efforts to reduce such 
killings.  The report notes the GOC's placement of legal 
advisors at the battalion level to ensure military operations 
comply with International Humanitarian Law (IHL); the 
dismissal of military officials for involvement in 
extrajudicial executions or for failure to maintain command 
and control responsibilities; and the reinforcement of the 
GOC's "zero tolerance" policy for human rights violations. 
Still, the report maintains the GOC has not yet significantly 
reduced extrajudicial killings. (UNHCHR participates in a 
senior Commission set up by the Ministry of Defense in  July, 
2007 to support investigations and develop policy to deter 
extrajudicial killings.) 
 
¶4.  (U)  In its official response to the report, the GOC 
stresses its efforts to combat extrajudicial killings, and 
claims that since October 2008, it has received no new 
accusations of extrajudicial killings.  The response also 
cites additional measures the GOC has put in place but are 
not included in the UNHCHR report, including a 150 percent 
increase in prosecutors in the Fiscalia's Human Rights Unit 
(20 dedicated solely to extrajudicial killing 
investigations), the MOD's 15 point plan (reftel) to address 
extrajudicial killings and human rights issues, and President 
Uribe's biweekly public accounting of human rights offenses 
by the military. 
 
Violations of Human Rights and 
International Humanitarian Law 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (U)  UNHCHR strongly condemns the FARC's numerous 
violations of human rights, including indiscriminate attacks, 
child recruitment, sexual violence against women, the use of 
landmines, and taking hostages.  The report proposes that the 
international community consider systemic hostage taking a 
crime against humanity. 
 
¶6.  (U)  UNHCHR endorses the Constitutional Court's decision 
to further restrict the military criminal justice system's 
jurisdiction in human rights and IHL cases.  UNHCHR notes 
that members of the security forces were implicated in some 
indiscriminate attacks and cites the bombardment of Paez 
(Cauca), which caused the displacement of 948 individuals. 
 
Other security forces human rights violations include cases 
of inhumane treatment and torture.  UNHCHR received specific 
complaints of cases in Antioquia, Cauca, and Choco.  During 
the indigenous movement's November 2008 demonstrations (which 
turned violent), UNHCHR observed an excessive use of force by 
the Colombian National Police. 
 
Illegal Armed Groups 
-------------------- 
 
¶7.  (U)  The report calls attention to an increase in the 
presence of illegal armed groups in areas formerly controlled 
by the United Self-Defense Forces (AUC).  UNHCHR stresses 
these groups are "far from being structured as military-type 
organizations" and their "actions appear to correspond to the 
settling of personal disputes relating to drug-trafficking 
activities."  Still, UNHCHR considers some of the groups in 
Guaviare, Meta, and Vichada to "act with a political and 
ideological orientation, similar, if not equal, to the former 
AUC."  UNHCHR calls for a comprehensive GOC response to 
address the situation.  The official GOC response maintains 
the overriding criminal nature of these groups and affirms 
its willingness to confront and defeat them. 
 
Justice and Peace Process 
------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U)  The report applauds the GOC's efforts to increase 
the prominence of victims' rights to truth, justice, and 
reparations in the political and public spheres.  The report 
calls the recovery of human remains from clandestine graves 
one of the most "concrete" results of the Justice and Peace 
Law (JPL) confessions process.  Still, UNHCHR is concerned by 
the slow pace of the peace process and the low rate of 
indictments and convictions under the JPL.  The report 
concludes it is "evident that there will be fewer individuals 
tried" under the JPL than initially estimated.  UNHCHR calls 
on the GOC to review and revise the JPL in order to compel 
speedy testimony and faster processing time.  The report also 
urges the GOC and USG to ensure continued JPL participation 
of extradited former-paramilitary leaders. 
 
Human Rights Defenders, 
Community Leaders, and Unionists at Risk 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (U)   UNHCHR commends the Ministry of Interior and 
Justice's protection program, but underscores that GOC 
officials' criticism of human rights advocates endangers 
their physical safety.  In Arauca and Norte de Santander, the 
UNHCHR describes the arbitrary detention of human rights 
defenders and community leaders, because the Fiscalia issued 
arrest warrants on questionable legal grounds.  UNHCHR argues 
the basis of these arrest warrants was frequently information 
from former members of illegal groups, whose testimony is 
often not credible. 
 
Forced Disappearance 
------------------- 
 
¶10.  (U)  The draft report calls attention to the problem of 
forced disappearance, highlighting the fact that the Fiscalia 
investigated 111 cases in 2008; victims were generally young 
unemployed men, human rights defenders, or trade union 
members.  UNHCHR contends the GOC pilot programs to address 
this issue need further attention in order to be effective. 
 
Internally Displaced 
-------------------- 
 
¶11.  (U)  The number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) 
continued to rise in 2008.  The report says indigenous and 
Afro-Colombian communities are particularly vulnerable to 
displacement, because they occupy territories of strategic 
value to drug traffickers and illegal groups. 
 
Millennium Development Goals 
--------------------------- 
 
¶12.  (U)  The UNHCHR report contends many Millennium 
Development Goals lack sufficient progress.  The GOC response 
 
challenges this claim, citing the UN's Millennium Development 
website, which places Colombia behind in only one objective 
by 2010, while the majority of objectives will be between 50 
and 80 percent achieved. 
 
 
BROWNFIELD