VZCZCXYZ0021
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #0736/01 0631713
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 041713Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7512
INFO RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 1759
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ MAR 9977
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA PRIORITY 3138
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 7804
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 8705
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL PRIORITY 4845
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
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RUEAWJC/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS BOGOTA 000736 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS PTER CO
SUBJECT: FEBRUARY HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE 
 
REF: A. BOGOTA 313 
     ¶B. BOGOTA 400 
     ¶C. BOGOTA 488 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  (U)  The Foundation for the Freedom of the Press (FLIP) 
reported that for the first time in 23 years, no Colombian 
journalists were killed for their work in 2008.  The FARC and 
the ELN mounted indiscriminate attacks against security 
forces resulting in civilian deaths.  Two former AUC members 
participating in the Justice and Peace Law are the primary 
suspects in 22 murders in Barrancabermeja this year.  An 
appeals court ordered the reopening of the December 1998 
Santo Domingo bombing case, while the Prosecutor General's 
Office (Fiscalia) opened an investigation into the then 
commanding general of the 17th Brigade for the 2005 massacre 
in San Jose de Apartado.  Union members who testified before 
the U.S. Congress on labor-related issues on February 12 
received threats.  The National Labor School reports that of 
the 49 unionists murdered in 2008, 32 belonged to public 
sector unions including 18 teachers.  End Summary 
 
NO JOURNALISTS KILLED IN 2008 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U)  The Foundation for the Freedom of the Press (FLIP) 
announced that for the first time in 23 years, no Colombian 
journalist was killed for their work in 2008.  Still, the 
FLIP study noted that 72 journalists reported receiving 
threats in 2008.  According to FLIP, in the last 30 years 
more than 130 Colombian journalists have been killed for 
their work. 
 
FARC FREE HOSTAGES, POSSIBLY SEEKING GOODWILL... 
YET LAUNCH ATTACKS AGAINST INDIGENOUS 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U)  On February 1, the same day it released four 
hostages (REF A), the FARC detonated a car bomb in front of 
the regional police intelligence headquarters in Cali.  One 
civilian and the terrorist who drove the car were killed; 240 
homes and 338 stores were damaged.  Approximately a week 
later, the FARC massacred at least 8 members of the Awa 
indigenous group (REF C). 
 
NOT TO BE OUTDONE, ELN STAGES SNEAK ATTACK 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (U)  In an ambush in Covencion (Norte de Santander) on 
February 12, the ELN's "Compania Francisco" killed three 
police and three civilians.  The ELN murdered a married 
couple to serve as bait, and, from the cover of high ground, 
attacked police first responders and civilians on the scene. 
Seventeen additional people were wounded. 
 
EX-PARAS BEHIND BARS... 
AND BEHIND 22 ASSASSINATIONS THIS YEAR? 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U)  Two former AUC members participating in the Justice 
and Peace Law (JPL) process, Mario Jaimes (El Panadero) and 
Rodrigo Perez Alzate (Julian Bolivar), are the primary 
suspects behind 22 murders in Barrancabermeja this year. 
Some human rights groups have requested that they be expelled 
from the JPL process and be judged in regular courts.  In 
voluntary confessions last year, Jaimes admitted ordering the 
Barrancabermeja massacre of May 1998, in which seven people 
were killed and an additional 25 were forcibly disappeared. 
Only a judge can order the removal of a participant from the 
Justice and Peace Law process. 
 
COLOMBIAN SECURITY FORCES: 
ACTIONS PAST AND PRESENT INVESTIGATED 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U)  The Superior Tribunal of Bogota overturned a lower 
court conviction of three Air Force personnel for involuntary 
manslaughter, reopening the investigation into the bombing of 
the hamlet of Santo Domingo (Arauca) in December 1998. 
Seventeen civilians died, and another 21 were injured in the 
attack.  The Superior Tribunal said the three Air Force 
members -- Cesar Romero Pradilla, Johan Jimenez Valencia, and 
Hector Hernandez Acosta -- knew the destructive radius of the 
cluster bomb, were aware of the hamlet's location, and 
therefore knew the possible effects their actions might have 
on civilians.  The Tribunal said the pilots' actions violated 
International Humanitarian Law prohibiting the use of bombs 
in populated areas, even if enemy fighters are present. We 
suspended assistance to the Air Force unit in January, 2003, 
reinstating aid in September, 2007 after the lower court 
ruling. 
 
¶7.  (U)  Based on testimony from soldiers arrested last month 
for the February 21, 2005 massacre of eight members of the 
San Jose de Apartado Peace Community (REF B), the Fiscalia 
opened an investigation into retired army general Hector 
Fandino, who commanded the troops at the time of the 
massacre.  Fandino publicly said he is ready to cooperate 
with the justice system and has nothing to hide. 
 
¶8.  (U)  On February 12, the High Judicial Council (Consejo 
Superior de Judicatura) denied retired General Alfonso Plaza 
Vega's plea to be tried in a military court for his alleged 
role in the forced disappearance of eleven people during the 
recapture of the Judicial Palace on November 7, 1985.  The 
then Colonel commanded the operation that retook the Palace 
from the terrorist group M-19. 
 
¶9.  (U)  A Colombian court ordered the police of Saravena 
(Arauca) to publicly apologize and pay reparations to the 
family of Wilson Duarte Ramon, who was tortured and killed by 
the police on March 26 and 27, 2002.  The unit must also 
implement and publicly post a human rights protection 
strategy. 
 
UNION LEADERS RECEIVING THREATS 
------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU)  After their February 12 testimony to the U.S. 
Congress, Jose Luciano Sanin, Director of the National Union 
School (ENS), and Yessika Hoyos, whose union leader father 
was murdered in 2001, were publicly accused by President 
Uribe of spreading political hatred and lying.  In a February 
24 meeting, Sanin and Hoyos told us they received increased 
threats following Uribe's comments.  Sanin said his office 
receives protection from the GOC, but noted that he and Hoyos 
do not receive personal protection.  He later told us his son 
was recently held up at gunpoint, but the criminals demanded 
only his phone.  Sanin's romantic partner and the author of a 
Colombian Commission of Jurists (CCJ) report on union 
killings, also received a threatening fax with her address, 
phone number, and other personal details.  Sanin believes his 
personal circle is being targeted.  We will provide more 
reporting on Sanin's situation septel. 
 
LABOR MURDERS NOT ALWAYS LINKED TO UNION ACTIVITY 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶11.  (SBU)  The ENS reported that 49 union members were 
killed in 2008.  Of these, 32 belonged to public sector 
unions including 18 teachers.  ENS routinely asserts that the 
majority of labor murders are tied to labor disputes, but 
none of the 32 public sector workers were actively involved 
in labor talks at the time of their murders.  Still, two were 
murdered while were conducting activities that could be been 
considered labor related.  Carlos Burbano helped organize the 
March 6, 2008 march for the victims of all forms of 
terrorism, and disappeared on March 9 from San Vicente Del 
Caguan (Caqueta).  His body was recovered in a dump with his 
face disfigured with acid.  William Rubio Ortiz was murdered 
in a drive-by shooting on December 12; his union had recently 
accused the local government official -- who managed the 
regional environmental entity he worked for -- of corruption 
and of ties to paramilitaries. 
 
LABOR MURDERS RESOLVED 
---------------------- 
 
¶12.  (U)  The Fiscalia condemned former paramilitary member 
Daniel Toloza Contreras, alias "Cura," to 8.5 years of prison 
for the assassination of labor leader Pablo Antonio Padilla 
on February 23, 2001 in San Alberto (Cesar).  Sanin noted 
that paramilitary leaders participating in the peace process 
have confessed to ordering the murders of 84 union leaders to 
date, but complained that the have provided few details. 
Sanin asserted that that in many cases employers were also 
involved in the murders, but that the paramilitaries continue 
to protect them. 
 
BROWNFIELD