US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA5167

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BOGOTA 005167 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA PLEASE PASS TO USAID'S MIKE MAGAN AND BETH HOGAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, PTER, PGOV, PREL, CO, Demobilization 
SUBJECT: POST WELCOMES AUTHORIZATION TO SUPPORT 
DEMOBILIZATION PROGRAMS 
 
REF: SECSTATE 72426 
 
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Summary 
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1.  Post welcomes reftel and will use it as authorization to 
give support to specific aspects of the GOC's 
demobilization/reintegration program for former AUC members, 
including: (1) monitoring and evaluation, (2) Reference and 
Orientation Centers (CROs), and (3) judicial and 
inter-institutional coordination. Direct assistance will not 
be given to former AUC members.  Paragraph six offers a 
detailed description of each aspect to be funded.  End 
Summary. 
 
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Focus on Improving the Process 
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2. USG support to certain demobilization/reintegration 
aspects will have a direct impact on dismantling the AUC's 
terrorist and drug trafficking structure. Our involvement 
will help ensure that demobilized paramilitaries are 
thoroughly tracked and held accountable for any recidivism; 
that the CROs are well-run and staffed by the appropriate 
judicial and social service agencies; and that government and 
legal authorities involved in the peace process coordinate 
their actions to hold former paramilitaries to the program's 
standards. 
 
3.  In part because of our inability to support 
demobilization/reintegration thus far, the program still has 
some shortfalls. The GOC has emphasized its commitment to 
fully dismantling the AUC and preventing former 
paramilitaries from returning to criminal life. It has 
designed mechanisms to prohibit demobilized individuals 
implicated in major crimes from receiving reintegration 
benefits and to keep track of reintegration participants. 
However, funding shortfalls and inexperience have made 
implementation difficult. 
 
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High-Level Committment 
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4.  We have discussed these implementation problems with the 
GOC, including at the Ambassadorial level. In January, the 
Ambassador hosted a meeting with the Minister of 
Interior/Justice, Prosecutor General, Peace Commissioner, 
Vice Defense Minister, and other principals and their 
deputies involved in demobilization to underscore the 
importance of close government management of 
demobilization/reintegration. The Colombian officials 
expressed interest in U.S. guidance and assistance in 
implementing control mechanisms. 
 
5.  Successful implementation of demobilization/reintegration 
programs is key to a lasting peace process. Post will use the 
USD 1.75 million to broaden and improve the monitoring and 
control aspects of demobilization/reintegration without 
providing direct assistance to former AUC members. 
 
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The Details 
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6.  Below is a description of the programs that will receive 
funding: 
 
-- Accompaniment, Monitoring, and Evaluation System (SAME) 
(Previously referred to as the Tracking, Monitoring and 
Evaluation System (TMES))(USD 568,000): The SAME is an 
integrated information system designed to assess each 
ex-combatant's degree of reincorporation into civil society 
or risk of returning to illegal conduct, including 
re-association with a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). 
Post will use the SAME to determine if USAID-funded 
reincorporation benefits must be halted to a specific 
individual to avoid violation of U.S. law preventing 
provision of "material benefits" to FTO members. SAME also 
provides GOC reincorporation program managers with 
assessments of specific reincorporation activities to 
determine which are successful or need to be adjusted or 
abandoned. 
Given the close relationship between the SAME and the CROS, 
the operational costs of the CROs are included in the SAME 
budget line item, which covers the 11 regional offices and a 
central office in Bogota.  The GOC "Peace Fund" is covering 
approximately half of the overall cost of operating the 11 
regional CROs (approximately USD 250,000 per CRO per year). 
Additional GOC support covers the salaries of the personnel 
assigned from government institutions.  Each CRO will be 
staffed by SAME officials, contracted by IOM and paid for by 
USAID, who will input data into the system during 
ex-combatant visits to the CRO and from other information 
sources, including ex-combatant house-visits by SAME 
personnel and feedback from community leaders and 
reincorporation program operators, e.g., a vocational 
training school instructor. 
 
-- Survey and Registration, and Strengthening and Expanding 
CROs (USD 525,000):  With USAID support, the GOC surveys and 
registers combatants during the pre-demobilization 
concentration phase.  The survey provides personal 
information; e.g., age, birthplace, etc., as well as 
expectations and desires relative to reincorporation into 
civil society; e.g., where ex-combatants plan to live during 
the reincorporation phase.  All data is put into the SAME 
database.  Registration involves photographing and 
fingerprinting each combatant and issuing a special 
identification card.  Ex-combatants must present the card 
whenever they visit the CROs to receive reincorporation 
program benefits. 
 
The CROs are the physical and programmatic point of contact 
between GOC reincorporation program officials and every 
ex-combatant. Six CROs are now operational with another five 
planned in areas where ex-combatants are anticipated to 
reside during the reincorporation phase. CROs will be managed 
by the Ministry of Interior and Justice, and staffed by 
Ministry personnel and others from various GOC institutions; 
e.g., the Attorney General's Office, National Registrar, 
Ministry of Health, etc. 
 
-- Census of Demobilized Individuals and Publishing of 
Information Package (USD 157,000): GOC officials have planned 
a census of individuals in the reincorporation program, in 
particular to update information on the seven percent or so 
with whom authorities have had no recorded contact since 
demobilization. Individuals will be asked to confirm their 
current residence and contact information, number of family 
members, national health program enrollment, and current 
livelihood activities. The census will also be used to 
broaden the profiling of individuals in terms of background, 
capabilities, plans and interest in order to develop more 
precise psycho-social assistance and vocational training 
programs. The information package to be distributed during 
the census contains consolidated and up-to-date information 
on all aspects of the reincorporation program, including the 
requirement to participate in SAME or risk losing program 
benefits. 
 
-- Civil Education and Community Outreach (USD 250,000): This 
new program is directed at both ex-combatants and the 
communities into which they are reincorporating, and will 
implemented by a Colombian NGO under the direction of the OAS 
Trust of the Americas, an experienced international 
institution. The program will be primarily implemented via 
community radio programming covering the areas where 
reincorporating ex-combatants are concentrated, and will be 
developed to assist community residents in better 
understanding the reincorporation program. It will include 
call-in programs for CRO offidials to address concerns and 
questions. Civil education courses and materials designed for 
ex-combatants will also be offered at the CROs. 
 
-- Improving Judicial Processing and Coordination Support 
(USD 75,000): provided for strengthening inter-institutional 
coordination for vetting and adjudicating eligibility of the 
demobilized for pardons and reintegration program benefits. 
While the vetting role centers on prosecutorial and judicial 
functions, it is nevertheless is highly dependent on 
inter-institutional collaboration and coordination between 
other non-judicial GOC entities. 
 
Technical assistance to prosecutors and judges will expedite 
the judicial review and processing required of ex-combatants, 
beginning in the city of Medellin, where nearly 250 
ex-combatants are still in legal limbo nearly 18 months after 
their demobilization. Lessons learned from this pilot effort 
will then be applied to the reincorporation program 
throughout Colombia. This activity will be implemented by 
USAID,s existing rule-of-law implementing partner, 
sub-contracted by IOM, and involve a working group made up of 
cognizant GOC institutions. 
 
--  Enhancing Citizen Security and Crime Prevention (USD 
175,000): This activity will involve working with local 
police commanders and elected officials in primary 
reincorporation areas (Uraba, Norte de Santander, and 
Cordoba) to strengthen programs to prevent crime and 
violence, which international experience has shown can surge 
in association with combatant demobilizations.  This activity 
will also be implemented by a current implementing partner, 
Georgetown University, already engaged in citizen security 
programming in Colombia. 
WOOD