US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA4998

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 004998 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KJUS, PTER, PGOV, PHUM, CO, Demobilization 
SUBJECT: CONGRESS PREPARES TO DEBATE DEMOBILIZATION LAW 
 
REF: A. BOGOTA 3922 
     B. BOGOTA 3555 
 
1.  (U) Summary:  Debate and article-by-article voting on the 
demobilization law is likely to begin the week of May 23 in 
the plenaries of both houses of Congress.  The GOC sponsors 
have submitted a draft to Congress proposing several changes 
to what was passed in committee.  Senator Rafael Pardo and 
his supporters have submitted a rival draft, calling for 
required confession and swamping Colombia's international 
debt for a reparations fund.  On May 17, the plenary approved 
an appeal for articles on sedition and blanket sentence 
reductions to be re-voted in committee, albeit a different 
committee.  The predominantly pro-Uribe Second Committee 
(Defense, Foreign Relations, and Trade) will likely vote on 
the two articles, most likely on May 24.  End summary. 
 
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Plenary Debate Pending 
---------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) The Justice and Peace law has been on the agenda 
for plenary debate in both houses of Congress since early 
May.  Other bills, including pension reform and reelection 
implementing legislation (Ref A), have pushed it to a lower 
spot on the agenda.  Quorum busting, in particular by the 
Conservative Party, caused further delays.  Debate and 
article-by-article voting will probably begin the week of May 
23.  Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo has said there 
may not be enough time to complete action on the bill before 
Congress adjourns on June 20.  In that case, the GOC would 
re-submit the bill during the follow-on session to begin on 
July 20.  Unlike the joint committee debate, House and Senate 
plenary debate and voting will be held separately. 
 
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Sponsors Present Drafts 
----------------------- 
 
3.  (U) The GOC sponsors of the bill, including "Uribista" 
Senators Claudia Blum, Mario Uribe (President Uribe's first 
cousin), and Luis Humberto Gomez Gallo, presented a draft 
("ponencia") on April 28.  The plan calls for several changes 
to be made to the text passed at the committee level, 
including: 
 
-- Making the requirements for individual and collective 
demobilized the same (the text passed in committee has 
slightly different requirements.  It requires individuals to 
be debriefed for intelligence purposes and blocks individuals 
who personally benefited from drug trafficking.  Collective 
demobilized are not required to provide intelligence and are 
blocked if they were drug traffickers before joining an 
illegal armed group). 
 
-- Specifying deadlines: the investigators must report the 
results of the beneficiary's open statement to the superior 
district court within 12 hours of receiving it and the 
beneficiary must be investigated in 30 days total. 
 
-- Making parole one third of the time in confinement. 
 
-- Adding text stating that beneficiaries must give 
reparations only if they have them. 
 
-- Continuing to refuse to acknowledge an armed conflict (in 
committee, Pardo's proposal to make reference to a conflict 
was rejected.  The sponsors reiterated that they will not 
accept it during the plenary debate). 
 
-- Allowing the GOC to extend the law's scope to facilitate a 
peace process with other illegal armed groups (the text 
passed in committee says the law will only cover crimes 
committed before the law goes into effect). 
 
4.  (U) On May 13, Pardo and his supporters presented a rival 
draft.  It requires confession, makes reference to an 
internal armed conflict, and proposes exchanging foreign debt 
into a reparations fund.  Pardo has said publicly that he 
believes the GOC has enough votes to pass its version but it 
would not satisfy standards of truth, justice, or 
reparations. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Sedition and Sentence Reductions Back to Committee 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
5.  (U) The Senate First Committee (Constitutional and legal 
issues) had earlier rejected articles making paramilitarism 
an act of sedition (Article 64) and permitting blanket 
sentence reductions for all prisoners currently doing time 
(Article 61).  On May 17, the Senate plenary approved an 
appeal to authorize a re-vote on Articles 61 and 64 in a 
different committee.  The plenary approved the motion (58 
votes in favor; 18 against; 26 abstentions or not present). 
The Second Committee, which is pro-Uribe, is likely to 
approve both articles the week of May 23, according to 
Committee Chair Manuel Ramiro Velasquez.  The GOC had 
repeatedly emphasized it would push to re-insert a sedition 
article so that guerrillas and paramilitaries would be 
treated equally (Ref B).  During earlier committee debate, 
many argued that a blanket sentence reduction had no place in 
a demobilization law, but others argued it was unjust to deny 
all prisoners the same benefits as demobilized. 
 
6.  (SBU) Comment:  Embassy is working to improve language 
relating to confession and to ensure against any operational 
connection with "political crimes" that could impede 
extradition.  We are also trying to improve time limits.  The 
Senate Second Committee is all but certain to pass Articles 
61 and 64.  While full Senate and House debate on the entire 
bill is possible next week, it might slip further.  Other 
legislation, such as pension reform and reelection 
implementation, requires more rounds of debate and voting 
than Justice and Peace.  The Conservative Party, erstwhile 
ally of President Uribe, has been working to bust quorum in a 
pressure tactic to ensure that the President's nominees for 
Prosecutor General (Fiscal) are Conservatives.  The debate 
over reelection implementing legislation, which includes 
proposed regulations to create a level playing field for the 
opposition in the May 2006 presidential election, continues 
to be tense.  Left and center-left parties have also been 
blocking progress on this high-stakes issue owing to strong 
differences with the GOC and Uribistas. 
WOOD