US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA4482

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BOGOTA 004482 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2015 
TAGS: ECON, PHUM, PTER, CO, Human Rts 
SUBJECT: OHCHR DELEGATION VISITS SARAVENA, ARAUCA 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (U) On April 20, 2005, the United Nations Office of the 
High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) based in Colombia 
led an international delegation to Saravena in Arauca 
Department to meet with government officials, NGOs, the 
military, and religious groups on human rights issues.  Local 
NGOs, government officials, and religious groups said that 
change in Arauca had to begin by placing a priority on the 
safety and well-being of the people, and less on the military 
aspects of GOC policy.  They also called for more foreign 
direct investment in the department to help meet financial 
budget constraints and to assist with basic health and 
education needs.  GOC military efforts in the area appear to 
be helping with security and stemming drug movement and 
contraband to and from Venezuela, but some question their 
effectiveness in the area of human rights.  End Summary. 
 
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SARAVENA CITY 
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2. (U) The OHCHR in Colombia led a delegation to Saravena to 
speak to government officials, NGOs, the military, and 
religious groups to evaluate the human rights situation in 
Arauca Department.  The delegation, led by OHCHR Deputy 
Director Amerigo Incalcaterra and Regional Coordinator 
Roberto Desogus, included members from the European 
Commission and the Governments of Austria, Switzerland, 
Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, and the 
United States. 
 
3. (S) In Arauca, both paramilitary and guerrilla groups 
battle one another and the government.  Illicit crop 
production is a source of income for subsistence farmers. 
Forced displacements are common, and movement of contraband 
is an important industry, since Arauca share a long border 
with Venezuela, and the highway is an important crossing 
point.  Saravena is a small town nestled in the flat expanse 
east of the Andean mountains.  The city lacks sufficient 
access to potable water.  There are numerous military 
checkpoints at each major intersection.  The new city council 
building is located on the second and third floors of a small 
shop across the street from the main park.  On both sides of 
the block are military guard posts with sand bags and heavy 
artillery.  Half a block down is the blown out structure that 
served as the city council and police barracks until two 
years ago.  Arauca has received approximately $2 billion 
dollars in royalties from oil production over the past 15 
years, but decades of corrupt administration have left the 
department no better off. 
 
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MEETING WITH CITY OFFICIALS 
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4.  (U) The first meeting was a town-hall style format with 
the mayor, city council, regional members of the Prosecutor 
General's Office (&Fiscalia8) and Inspector General's 
Office (Procuraduria), and the local hospital director. 
Mayor Antonio Jose Ortega Gutierrez is a short, heavyset man 
in his 40s.  During mayoral elections one and a half years 
ago, the government jailed him for subversion and alleged 
ties to the ELN.  He was released after a month and cleared 
of all allegations, but missed the final few weeks of 
campaigning.  He won anyway and launched a plan to rebuild 
Saravena,s bombed-out infrastructure. 
 
5.  (U) Officials present at the meeting spoke of the links 
to terrorism by subversive groups, which have attacked and 
killed police and civilians.  Ortega claims he has received 
numerous threats and fears for his life.  He boasted that 
recent polls give him 86 percent public support, &higher 
than any other politician in the country, including President 
Uribe.8 
 
6.  (U) Regarding health and welfare concerns, Ilma Moncada, 
coordinator for the Colombian Welfare Institute (ICBF), said 
they have about 20 investment projects in the area, including 
child development and work training.  Municipal Ombudsman 
Alba Ruth Nunez Lozano spoke about forced displacement, 
claiming it affects mostly indigenous people outside of town. 
 She estimated that about 10 families were displaced in 2003, 
but no figures were given for 2004.  Nunez said that of the 
more than 3,000 investigations undertaken in 2003, about 
1,200 have "not been executed in an efficient manner, 
contributing to impunity."  When questioned about government 
detainees, Nunez said four were currently in custody, but she 
was not allowed by the military to see or speak to them.  At 
the same time, Nunez said there were very few human rights 
abuses by the military.   She characterized President Uribe's 
"Plan Patriota" as "correct" and said that the "presence of 
the public forces is necessary to protect us."  This set the 
stage for repeated requests by her, the mayor, and numerous 
city council members for direct investment for human rights 
support, city reconstruction, and health and education 
 
7.  (C) Roberto Desogus, the OHCHR coordinator for Arauca 
based in Bucaramanga, Santander Department, said 
investigative weaknesses in Saravena are caused by a lack of 
physical presence by the Prosecutor General's office there. 
The Prosecutor General is based in Cucuta, Norte de Santander 
Department, and the absence contributes to impunity for human 
rights abuses.  He believes human rights abuses are primarily 
perpetrated by paramilitaries and guerrillas operating 
outside the city, due to the heavy police presence in town 
itself during the past few years. 
 
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MEETING WITH CIVIL SOCIETY 
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8.  (C) Around the corner from the new city council office is 
the UN office for the area.  Several leaders and members of 
local NGOs working in Arauca met to discuss their work, 
including the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human 
Rights, the Regional Foundation Committee of Human Rights, 
the Regional Institutional Strengthening Foundation Committee 
of Human Rights, the Community Action Association, the 
Intercultural Foundation of Sarare (FINDESA), the Youth and 
Student Regional Association (ABOJER), and the Corporation 
for the Defense of Human Rights, Peace, Welfare and Labor in 
Sarare (CORPOVIDA).  All requested more funding from the 
international community.  Some said the only defenders of 
human rights are the public forces, who occasionally fail to 
abide by these same principles.  NGOs also claimed that 
political polarization in the area leaves them at a 
disadvantage and that the local government does not 
adequately address their concerns, having convened only one 
town hall meeting in the past two years. 
 
9.  (C) NGOs accused both governments of investing too much 
in the Colombian military and protection of the Cano-Limon 
Pipeline, and not enough in the people of Arauca.  Many 
claimed that paramilitaries and guerrillas have killed their 
members, and the Colombian military has not been responsive. 
Several NGOs blamed the Uribe Administration for creating a 
"special war zone," that directly affects the indigent and 
indigenous.  They reiterated that Arauca is an area of &low 
interest,8 calling education and health services 
&terrible.8  A young male member of an unnamed NGO said 
that &indiscriminate spraying8 and the chemicals used by 
USG and GOC illicit crop eradication programs cause health 
problems, physically affecting children and the elderly, and 
creating more unemployment and poverty.  However, he could 
offer no specific information to substantiate his claims. 
The leader of the NGO CORPOVIDA, an elderly woman who claimed 
to have lost several family members to the conflict, was the 
only NGO to suggest a solution to stem the tide of violence. 
She spoke about starting a public education program with the 
federal government to teach young children about the dangers 
of war and to keep them from joining illegal armed groups. 
 
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CITY TOUR 
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10.  (C) Mayor Ortega and several city council members led 
the delegation on a walking tour of numerous bomb-damaged 
buildings in the city.  A young policeman, serving in 
Saravena for the past year, demonstrated how FARC attackers 
had strapped explosive devices to propane tanks and tossed 
them by hand onto the roofs of the buildings to intensify the 
destruction.  The mayor's infrastructure advisor, Francisco 
Javier Munoz, said eight people died in the first attack, and 
about 20 were injured.  The mayor's office, police 
headquarters, a personal residence and hotel, and a building 
shared by the Fiscalia and Procuraduria were destroyed.  He 
said two more homes were hit a year later to the date, but no 
one had been harmed.  Munoz said the mayor and city council 
are excited about the construction of a nearby military base, 
and the presence of eight Blackhawk helicopters. 
 
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MEETING WITH CHURCH OFFICIALS 
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11.  (U) The delegation also met with representatives of the 
Roman Catholic Church, lay persons who work on social service 
issues, as well as the Bishop of Arauca, Carlos German Mesa. 
The meeting took place in what functions as a grammar school, 
behind a church compound and adjacent to a taxi parking lot. 
The school is a shed with two walls, a metal roof, several 
plastic folding chairs, and one chalkboard.  The group told 
stories of human rights abuses, such as assassinations, and 
lack of proper resources to combat poverty and help with 
education and health.  Bishop Mesa said a few priests were 
killed in the mid-80s and 90s, the last one in 1996.  He and 
the others agreed that cultivation of illicit crops aids 
illegal armed groups, and draws young people to fight as 
soldiers.  He estimates that approximately 40 percent of all 
young people in Arauca are involved in crime, and the lack of 
adequate education, health care and access to food cause 
large migration ) especially of indigenous ) in search of 
better living conditions.  Many church members and workers 
referred to life in Arauca, especially Saravena, as a &tense 
calm,8 explaining that although there have not been problems 
in the area for some time, people believe that further 
attacks will occur. 
 
12.  (U) Sister Viviana, a nun who works in Arauca, said the 
&tense calm8 is compounded by an increase in the number of 
extortions.  Many children in rural areas die because there 
is not enough health care, but more importantly because many 
people ) especially the indigenous ) do not have training 
in basic health.  The site of numerous shops, markets, and 
children and adults walking around the city square contrasted 
with Sister Viviana,s claim that Sunday markets are closed 
because no one has money to buy anything and residents fear 
for their safety in a crowded public place.  Several of the 
participants said the situation in Saravena and Arauca cities 
was worse years earlier, when the paramilitaries and 
guerrillas were much stronger.  One young priest said that 
change would not occur until the people of Arauca look to 
themselves as the first step towards recovery.  He told 
vignettes of people in the Department indifferent about life 
and their future.  Bishop Mesa said the people's faith is 
great, and that many believe the only sanctuary is the 
Church, not the state. 
 
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MEETING WITH COLMIL 
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13.  (U) Colonel Luis Franco Medina of the 18th Cavalry Group 
(Grupo Mecanizado No. 18 Reveiz Pizarro) discussed the 
efforts of the public forces to maintain security, restore 
public order, and ensure subversive groups do not enter the 
city or harm civilians.  Medina said the security situation 
has improved under President Uribe and that, due to increased 
funding and presence, the 18th Cavalry has maintained several 
checkpoints in and around the town, thwarting several bomb 
attacks and the movement of contraband.  His group claims to 
have confiscated illicit crops and drug materials amounting 
to $54 million pesos (or $24,000 USD), and captured three 
guerrillas in the first quarter of 2005.  Executive Officer 
Major Castillo said the goal of the military is to protect 
human rights while upholding the national constitution.  The 
18th Cavalry has several public awareness campaigns with the 
aim of building trust with local residents, including 
picnics, a public radio program, and assistance with 
anti-terrorism demonstrations in several communities.  The 
18th Cavalry estimates that their forces in Saravena proper 
total approximately 100. 
 
14.  (C) Major Castillo said there has not been a 
paramilitary presence in Saravena for one and a half years. 
However, after the meeting, Mayor Ortega insisted that there 
are paramilitaries in the city who are known to close down 
whole blocks and charge people 100 Colombian Pesos to pass. 
He claimed that paramilitaries killed a small boy in town 
about one year ago. 
 
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LOCAL HOSPITAL TREATING GUERRILLAS 
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15.  (C) The municipal hospital, Hospital del Sarare, is 
located near the city center.  It is publicly funded, has 
orthopedic and nursery wings, as well as a maternity ward. 
The facilities are clean and well kept.  Mayor Ortega, with 
several unnamed hospital officials, confirmed that the 
hospital routinely treats injured guerrillas.  For security 
reasons, they declined to give estimates as to the number of 
guerrillas treated, and said that many of the injuries are 
sustained from firefights with Colombian military forces. 
Ortega said none of the injured admits they are guerrillas, 
but it is &common knowledge8 that they are.  He believes 
the city's &hands are tied8 because the national 
constitution compels them to treat everyone.  He further 
explained that many of the guerrillas have friends among the 
police or hospital doctors who allow the wounded to enter the 
city to seek medical assistance. 
 
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COMMENT 
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16.  (C) Arauca has relatively high foreign investment in the 
petroleum sector.  More investment may be possible as the 
security situation improves.  Arauca,s position on the 
border with Venezuela gives it greater strategic importance 
than it might otherwise have and also complicates the 
government's efforts to secure the countryside to the extent 
that narco-terrorism sneak into Venezuela for haven.  Arauca 
remains a high Embassy priority.  End Comment. 
WOOD