VZCZCXYZ0009
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #0061/01 0221948
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221948Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2182
INFO RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS BOGOTA 000061 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PTER KJUS CO
SUBJECT: DECEMBER HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE 
 
SUMMARY 
 
------- 
 
 
 
¶1. (U) Reports of false positive killings -- military murders 
presented as combat kills -- declined by 96 percent in 2009 
according to the GOC.  A court convicted a Lieutenant and a 
Sergeant for the 2006 false positive murders of two individuals. 
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) claimed 
responsibility for the murder of the governor of Caqueta.  The FARC 
were alleged to have killed two Afro-Colombian activists in Choco 
and a councilman in Tolima.  FARC landmines killed one child and 
seriously wounded three others in Narino.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
REPORTS OF FALSE POSITIVE KILLINGS DECLINE 
 
------------------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) The GOC announced that 14 false positive cases -- military 
murders falsely reported as killed in combat -- were alleged to 
have occurred in 2009, two of which were proven crimes; the other 
12 cases are under initial investigation.  Foreign Minister Jaime 
Bermudez reported this represented at least a 96 percent reduction 
in false positive murders since 2008, when almost 400 false 
positive cases were reported prior to the October 2008 dismissal of 
27 military personnel associated with the Soacha false positive 
scandal. 
 
 
 
PROSECUTIONS FOR MILITARY CRIMES CONTINUE 
 
----------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3. (U) The Fourth Circuit Court of Monteria convicted Lieutenant 
Diego Beltran Vega (in absentia) and Sergeant Oscar Orlando Camargo 
in the 2006 false positive murders of John Freddy Camargo Herrera 
and Darwin Antonio Rivera Climaco.  The two victims were lured from 
Caucasia, Antioquia to Canalete, Cordoba with promises of work, 
killed by members of the 33rd Infantry Batalion, and falsely 
reported as killed in combat. 
 
 
 
¶4. (U) The Prosecutor General's office ordered the preventive 
detention of 11 members of the "December 11" Marine Battalion in 
the 2005 false positive case of Miguel Angel Martinez Yepez and 
Felix Antonio Rico Martinez in San Jacinto, Bolivar. 
 
 
 
FARC KILL POLITICAL LEADERS, ACTIVISTS, CHILD 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶5. (U) On December 21, the FARC kidnapped Caqueta Department 
Governor Luis Francisco Cuellar; his body was found dead the 
following day.  The FARC claimed responsibility and reported 
Cuellar had been kidnapped to "stand trial" for corruption and they 
had not intended to kill him.  The guerilla group blamed the 
military for Cuellar's death, since its pursuit forced the 
kidnappers to kill him in order to escape. 
 
 
 
¶6. (U) Manuel Moya and Graciano Blandon, leaders of 231 
 
Afro-Colombian displaced families seeking to return to the areas of 
Curvarado and Jiguamiendo in Uraba, Choco, were tortured and killed 
on December 17 in Choco.  Blandon's adult son was killed as well. 
Moya and Blandon's supporters, including presidential advisor Jose 
Obdulio Gaviria Velez, accused the FARC of the crime.  Moya and 
Blandon had been in conflict with the San Jose de Apartado Peace 
Community and the humanitarian zones in Curvarado and Jiguamiendo, 
which they claimed were associated with the FARC. 
 
 
 
¶7. (U) On December 8, councilman Ricardo Perdomo of Prado, Tolima 
was killed, allegedly by the FARC.  On December 29, 10 members of 
the FARC detained San Antonio, Tolima Mayor Ismael Cruz Neira for 
30 minutes before releasing him unharmed. 
 
 
 
¶8. (U) FARC landmines killed one child and seriously wounded three 
others in Roberto Payan, Narino on December 4. 
 
 
 
DISPLACEMENT TRENDS DOWN, BUT RATE QUESTIONED 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶9. (U) The GOC announced that displacements due to violence had 
declined by 50 percent between January and November of this year 
compared with the same period in 2008 (from 235,900 in 2008 to 
107,752 in 2009).  The GOC attributed the decline to continuing 
consolidation of territorial presence, which allowed for increased 
availability of state services and a reduction in negative factors 
associated with the conflict.  NGO Human Rights and Displacement 
Consultancy (CODHES) acknowledged that the number of displacements 
may have reduced in 2009, but dismissed the rate of reduction 
reported by the GOC as optimistic and premature.  CODHES and the 
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Colombia 
pointed out that the displacement figure for 2009 will continue to 
climb in 2010 as new cases are included in the national registry. 
NICHOLS