US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA1604

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 BOGOTA 001604 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, SNAR, MASS, PREF, EAID, KJUS, CO 
SUBJECT: PLAN COLOMBIA IMPLEMENTATION ROUND-UP, JANUARY, 
2005 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (U) The following is an update of Plan Colombia-related 
activities reported during January, 2005. 
 
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DOJ/ICITAP 
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2. (U) From January 25-28, the DOJ International Criminal 
Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) and U.S. 
Secret Service (USSS) presented a Financial Crimes Electronic 
 
SIPDIS 
Evidence Collection Seminar in Bogota.  Twenty-five Colombian 
law enforcement and intelligence personnel received training 
in the collection and preservation of digital evidence seized 
from electronic devices such as computers, PDAs, and digital 
cameras.  ICITAP and USSS donated equipment to these agencies 
to outfit five computer laboratories. 
 
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DOJ/JSRP 
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3. (U) In January, Colombia began to implement a new Criminal 
Procedure Code, which introduces an accusatory criminal 
justice system.  The Code will be implemented gradually, with 
the judicial districts of Armenia, Bogota, Manizales and 
Pereira introducing the code in 2005.  The initial 
impressions and media coverage of operations under the new 
Code have been very positive (see para. 11 regarding USG 
assistance). 
 
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MILGROUP 
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4. (C) On January 4, ongoing problems with the Military Penal 
Justice (MPJ) system moved into the public eye when the 
leading daily "El Tiempo" reported that the President's legal 
officer was considering annexing Military Justice to the 
Prosecutor General's office.  Emboffs from Political, 
MILGROUP and DAO have met weekly to discuss plans for 
immediate and long-term reform of the Military Penal Justice 
(MPJ), with the Office of the SOUTHCOM Judge's Advocate 
(SCSJA), the MILGROUP Legal Liaison Officer (LNO), and MPJ 
Director Brigadier General (BG) Luis Fernando Puentes Torres 
Girlado.  Although it looks like the report was more of a 
threat than a reality, MPJ Puentes has taken steps toward 
reform and asked for advice on the best way to transfer court 
procedures to an accusatorial system, create an investigative 
laboratory, and establish an administrative process for 
in-service misdemeanors. 
 
5.  (C) Embassy plans to assist the COLMIL over the next year 
to implement a plan to reform military justice system 
adjudications, and to advise COLMIL officials during the 
legislative consideration process.  The new system must have 
effective mechanisms for fact-finding and investigations, 
prosecution of cases, and swift decision-making and 
sentencing by judges.  BG Puentes acknowledged that the 
current MPJ system is not designed to do these things well, 
and is straining under the weight of backlogged cases.  He 
also concurred that if he does not change the system soon, 
COLMIL could be forced to move some or all of MPJ under the 
purview of the GOC civilian legal structure.  BG Puentes 
developed a six-point plan to improve the MPJ system.  The 
LNO's highest priority is now to advise and assist BG Puentes 
and his staff on this plan.  MILGROUP has also requested that 
SCSJA advise and assist COLMIL to develop strategies to 
improve these core legal justice competencies.  The Political 
section has offered suggestions on improving the 
communication mechanisms, especially for military cases 
involving civilians' human rights.  MILGROUP is working with 
DOJ representatives in the Embassy who are currently 
assisting the GOC with reform of the civilian legal system. 
MILGROUP and SCSJA began analyzing the COLMIL legal reform 
plan as the first step in this process. 
 
6. (C) In January, Admiral Luis Fernando Yance Villamil, 
Colombian Marines (COLMAR) Commandant, held a conference of 
all Brigade and Battalion Commanders (Cdrs) in Bogota. 
Admiral Mauricio Soto Gomez, Colombian Navy (COLNAV) 
Commandant, opened the event with his vision for the future 
of the COLMAR.  Adm Yance stressed the value of the 
non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and sergeant majors 
(SgtMajs).  During the conference the SgtMaj of the COLMAR 
sat next to Yance and participated as a key leader in the 
event.  Yance directed that Battalion and Brigade Cdrs will 
turn over as much as possible of the day-to-day running of 
the battalion to the SgtMaj so that they can focus on 
operations and training.  Admirals Soto and Yance made the 
following comments and directives: 
 
-- Each Battalion or Brigade will use a new database to 
inventory every piece of equipment that they own and justify 
how they acquired the items.  This will become the baseline 
to reduce corruption and illegal procurement or sales 
practices. 
 
-- Cdrs must stop skimming funds from the food budget to 
purchase other items for the base. 
 
-- A new personnel program will target promotion of the best 
conscripts through the ranks of professional, 
non-commissioned officer (NCO), and officer. 
 
-- Adm Yance has received a petition from about 40 Army 
officers wishing to switch to the COLMAR. 
 
-- The COLMAR goal for recruitment is to increase from 20,100 
to 23,000 Marines by the end of CY05. 
 
-- Unit cdrs must take responsibility for training. With the 
help of the Traditional Commander Activity (TCA) training 
event that the U.S. Naval Mission (NAVMIS) is conducting, a 
COLMAR-wide training management program will be established. 
 
-- Any officer who is overweight and out of shape past July 
will not be promoted. 
 
-- The Second Brigade will be transformed to a Riverine 
Brigade.  Adm Yance discussed implications, outlined the way 
ahead, and discussed the plan to place new outposts on the 
remaining rivers on Colombia's borders with Brazil and 
Venezuela. 
 
-- Cdrs must maintain a log of all events and begin to create 
After Action Reports to be compiled at the Covenas Doctrine 
Division (CDD), a planning think-tank for COLMIL.  The CDD 
will analyze lessons learned and create new tactics and 
procedures to counter FARC/AUC actions as they evolve.  The 
COLMAR continues its progressive transformation and is 
setting the standard for change in the COLMIL. 
 
7. (S) On January 8-10 Major General (MG) Carlos Alberto 
Fracica Naranja, Commander of Joint Task Force Omega (JTF-O), 
conducted a commander's conference at Larandia, the first 
meeting to bring the new JTF-O staff and commanders together 
since the December turnover of personnel.  While praising MG 
Reinaldo Castellanos Trujillo's prior efforts, Fracica made 
it clear the operation has entered a new phase in which he 
believes the FARC will attempt to avoid contact or combat in 
order to reorganize, resupply and reconstitute until they 
have rebuilt the combat power to conduct offensive 
operations.  He emphasized that neutralizing the FARC 
infrastructure is the key to success for the national 
campaign and that his subordinate commanders must be more 
aggressive in their execution of operations.  At the tactical 
level, he emphasized the need for small unit (platoon and 
below), special and integrated air.  He also said 
psychological operations and civil affairs should be 
integrated into all tactical operations.  He stated the JTF's 
strategic objectives are to gain territorial control, gain 
support of the local populace, block FARC mobility corridors, 
kill or capture a secretariat-level high value target (HVT), 
and force demobilization of the FARC in the JTF area of 
operations. 
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NAS 
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8. (U) In January, The Embassy coordinated the eleventh 
annual Aerial Eradication Verification process.  The 
three-week verification mission collected soil and water 
samples from hundreds of locations where aerial spraying had 
been conducted in recent months.  The mission was conducted 
by USDA and GOC scientists, with assistance from INL, NAS 
Bogota, the Colombian National Police, other GOC officials, 
and OAS CICAD observers.  The mission's objective was to 
determine the environmental effects, if any, of our aerial 
spraying program, as required by both U.S. and GOC law.  In 
the course of collecting field samples the evaluators also 
made observations regarding replanting, and other measures 
undertaken by narcoterrorists to counter eradication 
activities. 
 
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RSO 
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9. (U) Anti-Kidnapping Program (AKI): Four instructors and 
the Acting Program Manager arrived on January 19 in 
preparation for the start of the next six-week Crisis 
Response Training (CRT) at the Anti-Terrorism Assistance 
Program (ATA) CRT training facility at the Colombian National 
Police (CNP) tactical training base in Sibate.  The program 
has still not received the equipment and weapons for the 
previous four courses trained.  Once they arrive, a refresher 
course for the trained units will be conducted. 
 
10. (U) VIP Personal Protection Training Program: The MOD's 
dignitary protection team will graduate from a two-week 
training course on January 21.  The entire personal 
protection team of the MOD has now been trained. 
 
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USAID 
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11. (U) On January 12, Vice President Francisco Santos, 
USAID/Colombia Director Michael Deal, and U.S. Department of 
Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
(APHIS) Director John Shaw visited the Phytosanitary Center 
of Excellence (CEF) in Bogota.  As directed by Santos, the 
Ministry of Agriculture established a committee to develop a 
strategy to promote the export of Colombian fruits and 
vegetables to the U.S., to take advantage of the CEF 
protocols, and to achieve USD $1 billion in exports over the 
next ten years.  The CEF promotes the export of fresh 
agricultural products to the U.S. by conducting pest risk 
analyses and utilizing geographic information systems for 
plant pest surveillance.  Since July 2002, USAID has 
contributed a total of USD $1 million to organize, equip, and 
staff the CEF in Bogota.  USDA/APHIS is providing the 
technical assistance for this project. 
 
12. (U) To prepare Colombia for the transition to an oral, 
accusatorial justice system -- officially rolled out on 
January 1 -- USAID designed and constructed 35 specialized 
oral courtrooms.  The courtrooms are furnished and equipped 
for public hearings and trials.  USAID has also trained in 
oral procedures (required by the new system) to 123 law 
professors and 1,349 criminal justice system operators, 
including public defenders, inspectors and judges.  Only one 
month after being implemented in jurisdictions in Bogota, 
Manizales, Pereira and Armenia, statistics show that: 
 
-- police are making fewer frivolous arrests; 
 
-- scarce resources of courtrooms, prosecutors and public 
defenders are being focused on more serious crimes; 
 
-- 66 percent of all cases arraigned in the first month of 
operation were plea bargained and therefore will not require 
costly and time-consuming trials; and 
 
-- cases that once took years to be processed are now being 
adjudicated in days. 
 
13. (U) In January, USAID and Colombian clothing manufacturer 
DELMYP started the implementation of a training and job 
placement program.  The program will benefit 100 displaced 
and vulnerable people from the municipality of Soacha, 
Cundinamarca (just south of the city of Bogota), with 
full-time employment and health benefits.  DELMYP, a company 
with a long history in textiles and clothing production, will 
be able to guarantee a minimum job placement rate of 90 
percent.  To date, USAID's internally displaced persons 
(IDPs) program has assisted roughly 2.2 million IDPs with 
medium- and long-term assistance. 
 
14. (U) Under its Human Rights Program, USAID signed a 
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for up to USD $1 million 
with the Inspector General's (IG's) Office.  The MOU aims to 
strengthen the IG's preventive and disciplinary functions 
with activities such as expansion of the IG's human rights 
violations tracking system and oversight of the 
demobilization and reincorporation process. 
WOOD