VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #1442/01 1252040
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 052040Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8579
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 8844
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 2155
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ MAY LIMA 7460
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 2079
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA 3532
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 8197
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL 4899
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAWJC/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS BOGOTA 001442 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS PTER CO
SUBJECT: APRIL HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE 
 
SUMMARY: 
-------- 
¶1.  The Prosecutor General (Fiscalia) asked for a 60-year 
sentence against ex-Senator Alvaro Garcia Romero for his role 
in facilitating paramilitary massacres, and charged former 
Cesar Governor Alvaro Araujo Noguera and his son, ex-Senator 
Alvaro Araujo Castro, for conspiring with paramilitaries to 
kidnap a political rival.  80 Congressmen have been 
implicated to date for paramilitary ties, with 32 serving 
time or in jail awaiting trial.   The Fiscalia arrested two 
colonels and eight soldiers, bringing to 18 the number of 
military implicated to date in the Soacha extrajudicial 
killings investigation.  The GOC also charged five soldiers 
in the 1998 deaths of three women in Ocana, and obtained 
30-year sentences against seven soldiers for their roles in 
the 2006 murder of a San Jose de Apartado Peace Community 
member.  Family members of victims killed by paramilitaries 
in Uraba filed suit against Dole Food for allegedly making 
payments to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). 
 End Summary. 
 
PARA-POLITICAL UPDATE 
--------------------- 
¶2.  The Fiscalia requested a 60-year sentence (the maximum) 
against former Senator Alvaro "Gordo" Garcia Romero for his 
ties to paramilitary groups in Sucre and his alleged role as 
the mastermind of the Macayepo (Bolivar) Massacre  (October, 
2000).  The Fiscalia also formally charged former Cesar 
Governor Alvaro Araujo Noguero and his son, ex-Senator Alvaro 
Araujo Castro, for their alleged roles in the kidnapping of 
political rival Victor Ochoa Daza.  Garcia and the elder 
Araujo remain in jail.  The younger Araujo is under house 
arrest due to illness. 
 
¶3.  As of April 30, 2009, 80 of Colombia's 268 congressmen 
have been implicated in the para-political scandal, and 29 
have resigned as a result.  32 legislators are in jail (5 
convicted and 27 awaiting case resolution); 33 are free but 
under investigation; four have been paroled; four have been 
linked to the paras by the media; and seven have been 
acquitted.  Additionally, there are 16 governors implicated: 
nine are in jail (two convicted, seven awaiting case 
resolution); three are under investigation; three have been 
linked by the media; and one has been acquitted.  Finally, 
there are 35 mayors implicated: 24 are in jail (one 
convicted, and 23 awaiting case resolution); two fugitive 
mayors are under investigation; eight have been linked by the 
media; and one has been acquitted. 
 
FALSE POSITIVES: 23 IMPLICATED, 7 SENTENCED 
------------------------------------------- 
¶4.  The Fiscalia arrested Colonels Wilson Javier Castro and 
Alvaro Diego Tamayo, in addition to eight soldiers under 
their commands, for their alleged roles in the 2008 Soacha 
extrajudicial executions.  To date, 18 military have been 
detained in the Soacha cases. In other cases, the prosecutor 
in Ocana charged five soldiers with the July 1998 deaths of 
three women who were killed and presented as fallen 
guerrillas.  Seven more soldiers were sentenced to 30 years 
in prison for their roles in the 2006 murder of Edilberto 
Vasquez Cardona, who was similarly portrayed as a fallen 
guerrilla.  Vasquez was a member of the Arenas Altas 
"humanitarian zone," which is part of the San Jose de 
Apartado Peace Community in Uraba. 
 
UNIONIST CAUGHT IN FARC CAMP CHARGED 
------------------------------------ 
¶5.  The Fiscalia charged Juan Efrain Mendoza, ex-leader of 
agricultural-sector union Fensuagro, of ties to the FARC, 
extortion, and kidnapping after he was detained in February 
along with FARC front leader Bernardo Moreno ("Negro 
Antonio") during a military operation in Sumapaz (near 
Bogota).  Mendoza claimed he had been kidnapped by the FARC, 
but Fiscalia investigators said he was captured while fleeing 
with the FARC and had a cell phone in his possession. 
 
PARAMILITARY LEADERS CONFESS TO BURNING VICTIMS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
¶6.  Former United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) 
leader Salvatore Mancuso, extradited to the United States 
last year on drug charges, testified in the Justice and Peace 
Law process that the AUC burned hundreds of victims in 
complicity with the military to conceal the number of deaths 
attributable to paramilitary groups.  Former AUC member Jorge 
Ivan Laverde testified in October 2008 that the first burning 
of 98 bodies took place in Norte de Santander in 2001. 
 
DOLE ACCUSED OF BANKROLLING MURDER OF UNIONISTS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
¶7.  Relatives of 51 victims murdered by the AUC in Uraba 
filed a wrongful death suit in the United States against Dole 
Foods for allegedly paying $10 million to the AUC between 
1997 and 2007 to keep unions out of its plantations.  The 
plaintiffs' key witness is jailed AUC commander Jose Gregoria 
Mangones, who has admitted responsibility for more than half 
of the killings cited in the suit.  Dole has categorically 
rejected the allegations. 
 
JOURNALIST MURDERED 
------------------- 
¶8.  On March 24, radio journalist and local anti-corruption 
leader Jose Everardo Aguilar was killed by an unknown 
assailant in his home in Cauca.  Aguilar's family said he 
received death threats linked to his reporting, and Cauca 
police are investigating possible motives.  President Alvaro 
Uribe announced a GOC reward of $25,000 for information 
relating to the murder.  The Inter American Press Association 
(IAPA) condemned the killing and called for a thorough 
investigation.  Aguilar is the first journalist murdered 
since 2007. 
 
KIDNAPPING DATA REVISED DOWNWARD 
-------------------------------- 
¶9.  After reviewing 3300 kidnapping cases reported since 
1996, the National Fund for Personal Freedom (Fondelibertad) 
revised its estimate of the number of current kidnapping 
victims down to 125 (66 held by the FARC, 10 by the ELN, and 
the rest by emerging criminal groups).  Some human rights 
groups questioned the figure, arguing that the true number 
ranges from 600 to several thousand. Five other countries in 
the region--Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, and 
Haiti--reportedly now have higher kidnapping rates than 
Colombia. 
 
FARC THREATENS PROSECUTOR GENERAL, MUNICIPAL COUNCILORS 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
¶10.  The Police captured three suspected FARC members in 
Bogota who were plotting to assassinate Prosecutor General 
Mario Iguaran, possibly at a sporting event in May.  The 
Colombia National Foundation of Councilmen (FENACON) 
announced that over 2000 of its members have received death 
threats from various illegal armed groups, mainly the FARC, 
in rural areas.  FENACON also said that over 400 councilmen 
have been killed by illegal armed groups since 2000, though 
deaths have plummeted in recent years.  Colombia National 
Police Citizen Security Director General Orlando Paez said in 
response to the report that the GOC would continue to make 
all efforts to guarantee protection of threatened councilmen. 
 
 
 
 
BROWNFIELD