US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA10845

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 010845 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, CO 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH PEACE BRIGADES INTERNATIONAL 
 
REF: BOGOTA 10565 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Milton K. Drucker. Reasons: 1.4 (b) an 
d (d). 
 
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Summary 
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1. (U) On November 4, the Ambassador met with four 
representatives of the human rights NGO Peace Brigades 
International (PBI).  The Ambassador thanked PBI for its hard 
work and cooperation with the Embassy on relating sensitive 
human rights cases.  PBI raised concerns about protection for 
labor leader Berenice Celeyta, the investigation into the 
disappearance and murder of Afro-Colombian leader Orlando 
Valencia, and recent reports of harassment and violence in 
the San Jose de Apartado Peace Community.  PBI also asked the 
Embassy to encourage the Prosecutor General's Office to 
investigate the soldiers who were allegedly brought to a 
hospital after the Apartado massacre in February.  PBI said 
the Apartado Peace Community might be willing to talk with 
GOC investigators if they perceived the GOC to be acting in 
good faith.  The Ambassador informed PBI of the Embassy's 
efforts to ensure prompt and thorough investigations into all 
three matters.  The Ambassador's statement condemning the 
Valencia murder and calling for justice is on the Embassy 
website.  End summary. 
 
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Protection for Berenice Celeyta 
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2. (U) PBI Representative Eric Lopp recently traveled to Cali 
to accompany Berenice Celeyta, recipient of the RFK Human 
Rights Award in 1998, and said Cali Chief of Police Jesus 
Antonio Gomez Mendez did not appear to take threats against 
Celeyta seriously.  Lopp said that on October 13, Celeyta and 
five other human rights workers received a threat in the form 
of a funeral announcement, an issue which came up in her 
meeting with Gomez.  According to Lopp, Gomez conducted a 
meeting with Celeyta in a "sarcastic" tone.  PBI DC 
Representative Ximena Sanchez said Celeyta's case seems 
"emblematic of the situation of labor leaders everywhere in 
Colombia."  The Ambassador said he was aware of Celeyta's 
case and said the Embassy would continue to follow the issue 
of her protection. 
 
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Keeping the Spotlight on Orlando Valencia Investigation 
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3. (U) Sanchez said PBI was concerned about the situation in 
the Jiguamiando community and environs, where Orlando 
Valencia was kidnapped (reftel) and where she said threats 
and intimidation are becoming more common.  Indigenous 
leaders, for whom the Interamerican Court of Human Rights has 
requested protection, continue to be threatened in and 
outside of their communities by unidentified armed actors, 
according to Sanchez.  NGO workers -- including PBI -- have 
received threats as well, she said.  Those who were 
associated with Valencia or present during his disappearance 
are also at great risk, in Sanchez's view.  Kathleen Nygard, 
a PBI representative who does risk assessment, asked the 
Embassy to do what it could to make sure community members 
can travel to the U.S. to tell their story.  (Rafael 
Figueroa, who was accompanying Valencia when he was 
kidnapped, and Enrique Petro, to whose house Valencia was 
traveling when he was kidnapped, both applied for and 
obtained visas November 9-10 to visit the U.S.)  Sanchez also 
expressed the concern that a new Forestry Bill could 
undermine collective land rights established under Colombia's 
Law 70. 
 
4. (U) The Ambassador agreed with Sanchez that an immediate, 
thorough investigation needed to be conducted in the Valencia 
case, and told her about Embassy efforts to press the GOC at 
the highest levels on the matter.  He also conveyed his 
concerns about the redistribution of land under the program 
for reparations, and the importance of finding a just 
settlement for land where titling had been in limbo during 
the conflict.  He added that the Vice President has told him 
he believes there is enough land being made available to 
those who need it. (Since the meeting, the Embassy has posted 
the Ambassador's statement about the Valencia case on its 
website.  The statement condemns the murder and calls for 
justice.) 
 
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Claims of Violence, Threats in San Jose de Apartado 
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5. (C) June Holmes, a PBI representative who recently spent 
over a year stationed in Urab, said that tension has been 
steadily increasing since the massacre in San Jose de 
Apartado in February.  Most recently, she said, a group of 40 
armed men on motorcycles drove to San Jose de Apartado, 
bypassing military and police checkpoints without a problem, 
and had a large party in the house of someone the Peace 
Community considers to be a "known paramilitary" who goes by 
the alias "Lalo."  According to Community members, Lalo is 
alleged to have been responsible for the massacre of four 
civilians from San Jose de Apartado in 1999, and 15 civilians 
from the Community in 2002.  Holmes also said that PBI has 
received reports that FARC deserters, allegedly from the 
Peace Community and San Jose de Apartado area, have joined 
local military and paramilitary groups to reveal FARC 
infiltration in the Community in exchange for preferential 
treatment. 
 
6. (C) PolCouns asked if the Community was cooperating with 
the GOC authorities trying to investigate the February 
massacre.  Sanchez said that during each of three visits by 
representatives of the Inspector General, Community members 
provided testimony and evidence.  However, the Community 
remained suspicious about investigators from the Prosecutor 
General's Office because they believed individuals who 
cooperated with the Office in the past were targeted for 
threats.  Sanchez added that if the Prosecutor General's 
Office were to make a good faith effort and investigate the 
soldiers who were allegedly brought to a hospital after the 
massacre in February, as requested by Community members, it 
might make the Community feel more comfortable with their 
presence.  Community members still were asking for more 
protection guarantees in order to cooperate fully. 
 
7. (C) According to Sanchez, setting up a local police post 
in the urban center of San Jose de Apartado has created more 
problems.  According to the Interamerican Court decision on 
the situation in San Jose de Apartado, a police presence was 
supposed to have been set up outside the urban center and a 
dialogue with the security forces was to have already begun. 
The first police in the urban post kept a low profile, but 
after two armed attacks by suspected FARC members in the area 
they have increased their security posture, alienating the 
residents.  Sanchez said the creation of an office in San 
Jose de Apartado for the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office, 
however, was a positive development and residents were 
cooperating with the office. 
 
8. (C) The Ambassador said he would to continue to insist 
that the GOC security forces treat residents fairly and 
conduct a thorough investigation into the massacre (a message 
that was conveyed by D/PolCouns in a meeting with Carlos 
Franco from the Vice President's Office on Human Rights and 
International Humanitarian Law on November 2).  The case will 
remain one of concern to the Embassy, he said, and will be 
prominent during the certification process.  However, he 
underscored the need for Community residents not to make 
their cooperation contingent on additional security 
guarantees being provided, and said he would be surprised if 
the residents accepted the security measures that were 
offered. 
 
9. (C) The Ambassador asked Sanchez whether PBI volunteers 
had any observations on the demobilization and reinsertion of 
former United Self-Defense force (AUC) members in the area. 
Sanchez said while PBI has not taken an official stance on 
the issue, it has been noted that recruitment by paramilitary 
forces in the Uraba area has increased. 
 
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Other Issues 
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10. (C) Sanchez said there had recently been an increase in 
threats to international and Colombian accompanying 
organizations, which was very troubling.  The Ambassador said 
the USG took threats to human rights workers very seriously, 
and would raise the issue with the GOC because the secure 
presence of NGOs was good for Colombia.  Sanchez asked the 
Ambassador to make a public statement supporting the creation 
of "self protection mechanisms" like Peace Communities or 
Humanitarian Zones.  The Ambassador said while that would be 
difficult he would look into it, and would continue to 
support the fundamental goal of institutional strengthening, 
which should provide a neutral space for dialogue. 
DRUCKER