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Baseless Prosecutions of Human Rights Defenders in Colombia
February 2009
Table of Contents
I. Colombian and International Legal Standards on Due Process
II. Problems with Witness Testimony
A. Unreliable Nature of Witnesses Receiving Reintegration Benefits
III. Illegal Reliance on False and Unreliable Intelligence Reports
A. Insufficient Proof to Justify Investigation and Failure to Consider Exculpatory Evidence
V. Problematic Preliminary Investigation
A. Preliminary Investigations Exceed Statutory Time Limits
VI. Arbitrary Detention of Human Rights Defenders
A. No Valid Warrant for Arrest
VII. Criminal Defamation and Slander
VIII. Conclusions and Recommendations
A. Reviewing Investigations against Defenders
B. Addressing the Conduct of Prosecutors
C. Regulating Intelligence Reports
D. Changing Prosecutorial Attitudes toward Human Rights Advocacy
Annex: Table of Individual Cases
List of Acronyms and Institutions
Colombian State
CEAT (Cuerpo Élite Antiterrorista): Elite Anti-Terrorist Unit of the National Police.
DAS (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad): Administrative Security Department. The national intelligence service.
GAULA (Grupo de Acción Unificada por la Libertad Personal): Group of Unified Action for Personal Liberty. Elite units from the armed forces tasked with combating kidnappings.
Judicial Inspector (Procurador Judicial): Part of the Office of Inspector General responsible for monitoring criminal investigations.
Judicial Police (Policia Judicial): Agents from the various institutions below that carry out investigation and intelligence activities at the instruction of the Office of the Prosecutor General.
SIJIN (Seccional Judicial de Inteligencia): Judicial and Investigative Police. The National Police?s division of intelligence and investigation.
DIJIN (Dirección De Investigación Criminal): Direction of Criminal Investigation. The National Police?s criminal investigation division.
CTI (Cuerpo Técnico de Investigación): Technical Investigation Unit. The Prosecutor General?s unit responsible for investigation and forensic assistance in criminal cases.
DAS: See above.
Office of the Inspector General (Procuraduría General de la Nación): State institution that conducts disciplinary investigations of public officials and monitors state actions.
Office of the Ombudsman (Defensoria del Pueblo de Colombia): State entity charged with promoting and upholding human rights.
Office of the Prosecutor General (Fiscalia General de la Nación): State entity that is formally independent of the Executive and responsible for most criminal investigations and prosecutions.
RIME (Regional de Inteligencia Militar del Ejército): Regional Military Intelligence Unit of the National Army.
Others
AUC (Auto Defensas Unidas de Colombia): United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, the largest coalition of paramilitary groups.
ELN (Ejército de Liberación Nacional de Colombia): National Liberation Army, a smaller insurgent guerrilla group.
FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia): Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the largest guerrilla group in Colombia.
IACHR: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (OAS) with a mandate to promote and protect human rights in the Americas. The IACHR can grant precautionary measures, which a state should implement to protect the human rights of individuals.
Acknowledgements
Written by Andrew Hudson, Senior Associate, Human Rights Defenders Program.
Andrew Ehrinpreis, Laura Rogers, and Martha Bucaram provided invaluable research assistance. Mike McClintock, Matt Easton, and Gabor Rona provided editorial comments and Sarah Graham designed the book. Thanks to all the Colombian human rights defenders who spent considerable time finding the court documents needed to compile this report.