US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA9440

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 009440 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/04/2015 
TAGS: KJUS, PTER, PREL, PGOV, CO, Demobilization 
SUBJECT: JUSTICE AND PEACE UNIT OPENS FOR BUSINESS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William B. Wood. 
Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (C) Justice and Peace (J&P) Specialized Unit Chief Luis 
Gonzalez in the Prosecutor's Office (Fiscalia) told Emboffs 
September 27 that the unit would be open for business the 
week of October 3.  Gonzalez will have 8 of 20 prosecutors 
available on October 3; he hopes to appoint remaining members 
as soon as possible.  Gonzalez characterized a recent GOC 
trip to Brussels to promote the Justice and Peace (J&P) law 
as positive, and said he needed additional funds to ensure 
the long-term success of the unit.  End Summary. 
 
 
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J&P Unit Opens for Business 
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2. (C) Gonzalez told Emboffs he would open for business the 
week of October 3 in dedicated office space with eight 
experienced prosecutors.  Another six have been identified 
and Gonzalez hopes they can start work as soon as possible. 
He said he has asked Prosecutor General Iguaran for 
permission to promote six assistant prosecutors to complete 
the 20 required under the J&P law.  About 15 of the 20 will 
work in Bogota, with the remainder likely based in Cartagena. 
 He has made a proposal to Iguaran to assign every prosecutor 
three junior prosecutors and five investigators.  He would 
like the U.S. to begin its training of the prosecutors on 
October 10. 
 
3. (C) Gonzalez said the J&P Unit has a listing of 10,395 AUC 
members who collectively demobilized, 3,427 AUC members who 
individually demobilized, and an estimated 4,000 other 
individually demobilized illegal group members (mostly FARC 
members.)  Of the 10,395 AUC collective members, the 
Fiscalia's Corps of Technical Investigators (CTI) have 
identification information -- such as dental records, DNA 
sample, photographs, and fingerprints -- on 7,285 of them. 
The unit sent a request at the end of August to several 
government entities, including NGOs, for information on these 
individuals.  The unit has only received information from two 
local NGOs, and "insufficient" information from the DAS.  The 
unit has sent another request for the DAS to share all 
relevant information. 
 
4. (C) Gonzalez said the unit is working on a database that 
will have the capacity to hold information from the various 
government entities on these individuals.  Emboffs suggested 
looking into the USG/NAS's assisted individualized 
demobilization database system, which has taken over a year 
to complete and has the capability to do link analysis. 
Gonzalez was receptive of the idea. 
 
5. (C) Gonzalez explained that the unit would require a 
substantial additional allocation of resources, including 
hardware such as phones, computers, fax machines, and tape 
recorders.  These resources cannot come from existing 
Fiscalia units, he said, but must rather be purchased.  He 
provided a copy to Emboffs of the equipment budget request he 
had previously submitted to Iguaran for his consideration 
(approximately USD 13 million), as well as budget 
calculations for the unit's travel expenses (USD 1.7 million) 
and witness protection costs (USD 14.5 million) for 2006. 
Gonzalez was aware that the amount he is requesting is 
significant, but he emphasized that for the unit to do what 
is expected to do, it needs resources. 
 
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Status of J&P law Implementation Framework 
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6. (U) The Ministry of Justice and Interior (MJI) is heading 
an interagency effort to develop regulations to implement the 
J&P law.  Gonzalez informed Emboffs that the Fiscalia has 
been actively participating in this process, through ongoing 
review and comments to the proposed regulations. 
 
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Positive Trip to Brussels 
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7. (U) Gonzalez characterized as positive the GOC's September 
21-23 visit to Brussels to promote the J&P law.  The GOC team 
included Vice President Francisco Santos, National 
Reconciliation and Reparations Commission President Eduardo 
Pizarro, former Bogota Mayor Antanus Mockus, and Gonzalez. 
Over one thousand participants attended a forum held on 
demobilization and the J&P law, with representatives from 
various EU governments, civil society, and NGOs.  He cited 
two anecdotes as examples of the overall positive atmosphere 
of the meetings: 1) a number of commentators recognized that 
even though the J&P law is not perfect, it is the first peace 
process law adopted during an ongoing conflict that tries to 
address justice and reparations to victims; and 2) EU members 
supported the GOC by arguing that Europe should control more 
effectively the flow of arms to Colombia's terrorist groups 
instead of only pressing the GOC to trace weapons to criminal 
activity as part of the demobilization process. 
 
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COMMENT 
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8. (C) Embassy will meet with DAS Director Noguera to express 
our discontent at the DAS failure to share data with the 
Fiscalia, and seek his agreement to be more forthcoming.  The 
information that the Fiscalia is requesting is extensive and 
requires substantial computerization. 
WOOD