V. The Parapolitics InvestigationsWhile the Justice and Peace Law confessions have helped cast some light on paramilitaries crimes and networks, the most important progress in uncovering paramilitaries influence in the political system has been achieved through ground-breaking judicial investigations that have employed the ordinary tools of criminal law. As of this writing, more than 30 senators and members of the Colombian Congress are in detention and several dozen more are under investigation for collaborating with paramilitaries, in what has come to be known as the parapolitics scandal. The former director of national intelligence, as well as numerous governors, mayors, and other officials have also come under investigation for similar activities. The bulk of the credit for these investigations goes to the Colombian Supreme Courts criminal chamber, which starting in 2005 took the lead in launching investigations of members of Congress for paramilitary links. For years, there had been reports in Colombia of collusion between paramilitaries and public officials, but there had been little progress in investigations of these claims. The Courts initiation of these investigations in an organized and focused manner is an unprecedented development. The investigations have also benefited from the work of prosecutors, media, and civil society groups, which have uncovered a large amount of information about links between paramilitaries and politicians. The Attorney Generals Office also played an important role in some key cases, though it has at times appeared timid or slow, and has made some controversial decisions. Unfortunately, while the government has provided funding to the Supreme Court for these investigations, the Uribe administration has often taken steps that threaten to undermine the investigations and do serious damage to the independence of the judiciary. It has blocked serious and badly needed efforts at reforming the Congress to prevent paramilitaries continued influence. And it has recently proposed constitutional amendments that would remove investigations of Congress from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. If approved, those proposed reforms could be a fatal blow to the parapolitics investigations. Meanwhile, there appears to have been little progress in cases that are under the jurisdiction of the Congress itself. Only the Committee on Accusations of the House of Representatives may investigate sitting or former attorney generals, as well as the president.295 The majority of the members of that committee belong to the coalition of President Uribe. Complaints about former Attorney General Luis Camilo Osorios alleged involvement with paramilitaries have been pending before the Committee on Accusations for years with little apparent progress.296 Recent allegations against President Uribe are also under that committees jurisdiction. Background on Supreme Court InvestigationsAs early as 2002, Salvatore Mancuso told journalists that during that years congressional elections the paramilitaries hoped to win 30 percent of the seats in Congress. 297 And after the elections, Mancuso had bragged that the original goal of 35 percent has been by far exceeded, and it constitutes a landmark in the history of the AUC.298 Three years later, in June 2005, paramilitary leader Vicente Castaño told Semana magazine we have more than 35 percent of friends in Congress. And by the next elections we are going to increase that percentage.299 This series of statements by paramilitary commanders prompted politician Clara López Obregón to file a criminal complaint calling on authorities to investigate the possible infiltration of Congress.300 The complaint ended up with the Supreme Courtthe only judicial authority with the jurisdiction to investigate sitting congressmen. 301 In the following months, Justice Álvaro Pérez, with the support of auxiliary Justice Iván Velásquez, began an investigation of the allegations, calling on Mancuso and Castaño to testify. Around the same time political analyst Claudia López published a study of the 2002 elections describing highly irregular voting patterns that appeared to indicate that paramilitaries were able to assign specific pairs of candidates (one for the Senate and one for the Chamber of Representatives) for each electoral district where they exerted territorial control. In each case, López found, the pair of candidates backed by the paramilitaries won by overwhelming and highly atypical majorities.302 López observed:
In 2006, a scandal broke out over statements made to the media by Rafael García, a former DAS information technology chief who pled guilty to collaborating with paramilitaries. Among many allegations, García described in detail the paramilitaries strategy to manipulate the 2002 congressional and presidential elections in the state of Magdalena.304 García has, over the years, provided significant testimony in this regard that corroborates Claudia Lópezs research and other studies. Meanwhile, the Court was making progress in investigations of politicians from the state of Sucre, digging up evidence, witnesses, and information from its various offices and from the Attorney Generals Office. Up to that point, investigations had been conducted separately by each justice of the Supreme Court. However, as the evidence, complaints, and revelations started mounting, the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court determined that, to conduct the investigations more effectively, the whole chamber would investigate them together, charging a special team of five assistant justices with systematizing and carrying out the investigations. It is this team that has gone on to make the most progress in investigations. In addition to the testimony of García and the Claudia López study, the team has found other witnesses, recordings, and documentary evidence that have allowed it to make rapid progress on these cases. Some evidence came from Jorge 40s laptop, which included recorded conversations between paramilitaries and politicians. Information also came to light about a meeting of paramilitary leaders with several politicians, in which the politicians had signed a pact with the paramilitaries to refound the nation.305 The Role of the Attorney Generals OfficeMost of the high-profile investigations of congressmen have been initiated by the Supreme Court. However, once charged by the Court, the politicians in question have usually chosen to resign. In that situation, the case gets transferred to the Attorney Generals Office.306 In addition, the Supreme Court does not have jurisdiction to initiate investigations on its own involving governors, mayors, members of the military, orin several casesformer congressmen. Therefore, it has been up to the Attorney Generals Office to initiate and push forward those investigations. The record of the Attorney Generals Office is mixed. In some cases, it has made important progress. It has also at times taken decisions that were politically difficultsuch as the decision to order the arrest of Sen. Mario Uribe, President Uribes cousin and closest political ally, though it later reversed that decision. At times, however, the office has appeared timid, failing to aggressively pursue evidentiary leads, or it has been slow to act. Because most cases initiated by the Supreme Court against congressmen are likely to end up being managed by the Attorney Generals Office, it is crucial that this office organize itself in such a way as to conduct the investigations effectively, and minimize errors. Below we describe the status of some of the most prominent cases handled by the Office of the Attorney General, highlight progress in some cases, and point to concerns in others. Status of Prominent CasesThe Álvaro Araújo InvestigationThe investigations involving Sen. Álvaro Araújo are particularly significant because his arrest prompted the resignation of his sister, María Consuelo Araújo, who was then serving as foreign minister.307 The Supreme Court indicted Araújo for conspiring with Jorge 40 in connection with the 2002 congressional elections. It also charged him with the aggravated kidnapping of Victor Ochoa Daza, the brother of then-mayor of Valledupar Elías Ochoa Daza, as part of a broader political strategy to take over control of the northern coast of Colombia, along with Jorge 40.308 After Álvaro Araújo resigned from his congressional seat, the case was transferred to the Attorney Generals Office and assigned to a specialized prosecutor in the Unit of Prosecutors Delegated before the Supreme Court, which is usually charged with investigating congressmen after they resign from their seats. That prosecutor, on August 22, 2007, formulated a formal accusation (the next step in the criminal proceeding) against Araújo on charges of aggravated conspiracy, aggravated extortive kidnapping, and constraining voters.309 However, on January 18, 2008, deputy Attorney General Guillermo Mendoza Diago partially granted an appeal by Araújo, nullifying the kidnapping accusation against him. Mendoza Diago concluded that the Office of the Attorney General had made a mistake in assigning the investigation for kidnapping to the prosecutor from the Unit of Prosecutors Delegated before the Supreme Court. Araújos father (also a former congressman) was simultaneously under investigation for the same kidnapping (which they allegedly committed together), but he was being investigated by another prosecutor. According to Mendoza Diago, the two investigations should have been combined. Thus, the kidnapping investigation of Sen. Araújo was nullified and sent to the other prosecutor.310 The decision has been controversial among some legal experts. The accusations against him for conspiracy and constraining voters remain intact, however, and the kidnapping investigation against both Araújo and his father is now in the hands of another prosecutor. In September 2008, Venezuelan authorities arrested Sen. Araújos father, who is also a former minister of agriculture, on the kidnapping charges, and later deported him to Colombia.311 The Mario Uribe InvestigationOn September 26, 2007, the Supreme Court indicted Sen. Mario Uribe for conspiring with paramilitaries. The decision was of great significance because of the high profile of Sen. Uribe. Mario Uribe is a second cousin of President Álvaro Uribe and they have a close and longstanding political alliance. The two of them co-founded a branch of the Liberal Party called Sector Democrático in the 1980s. They both ran for Congress in 1986, with Álvaro becoming senator and Mario becoming a representative. When Álvaro Uribe became governor of Antioquia in 1994, Mario was elected to the Senate. Marios political movement, Colombia Democrática, strongly supported Alvaros bid for the presidency in 2002. Later, Mario Uribe was a leading proponent of two of Alvaro Uribes most controversial initiatives in the Congress: the Alternative Penalties Law (a predecessor to the Justice and Peace Law) and the amendment to the Colombian Constitution that allowed Álvaro Uribes reelection as president in 2006.312 Sen. Uribe resigned his Senate seat shortly after the indictment, and so the investigation was transferred to the Office of the Attorney General, where it was assigned to prosecutor Ramiro Marín. On April 21, 2008, Marín ordered Mario Uribes arrest.313 Uribe found out about the arrest warrant and fled to the embassy of Costa Rica, where he sought political asylum. The asylum request was denied and on April 22 Mario Uribe was arrested.314 Human Rights Watch reviewed the prosecutorial resolution ordering Mario Uribes arrest. The decision was based primarily on the following pieces of evidence, mentioned in the resolution: First, Salvatore Mancuso testified, first in his Justice and Peace confession and then again before the Supreme Court, that he had met with Mario Uribe on two occasions. During one of those meetings, Mancuso said, Mario Uribe and Eleonora Pineda (a former hairdresser who was running for a seat as a representative in the same region as Mario Uribe, with the backing of the AUC) visited Mancuso in a rural area in the paramilitary-controlled municipality of Tierralta, Córdoba, where Mancuso was hiding due to the criminal convictions and charges pending against him. In his first statement Mancuso said he was not certain of the exact date or order of the meetings; however he later said that the first meeting definitely happened before the 2002 congressional elections. Mancuso said that the meeting had two goals: first, to formalize in front of him a political agreement between Uribe and Pineda by which the two of them would help each other get votes in some areas of Córdoba. According to Mancuso, Sen. Uribe had to have known that Pineda was a candidate of the paramilitaries, as that was why the two of them had gone to Tierralta to visit him. Mancuso added that at the meeting Sen. Uribe committed himself to support the paramilitaries efforts to initiate negotiations with the government. 315 Mancuso said that the other meeting happened when Sen. Uribe once again went to Tierralta to meet with Carlos Castaño; according to Mancuso, because Castaño was busy at the time, he asked Mancuso to meet with Sen. Uribe to once again discuss the negotiations with the government.316 Sen. Uribe claimed that there was only one meeting and that it was not planned: he said that Eleonora had invited him to lunch with some friends in her house, but she surprised him by instead taking him to Mancusos ranch. Uribe said that the meeting happened after the 2002 elections. Eleonora Pineda also said the meeting happened after the elections, in 2002, and that she did not initially explain to Mario Uribe that they were going to meet with Mancusothough she said she did explain it to him as they were on their way. Also, Pineda noted that when they were on their way to meet with Mancuso, at one point she asked Mario Uribe to leave all his escorts and other companions behind for the last stretch of the road trip.317 The prosecutor chose to believe Mancusos version of events over the versions given by Uribe and Pineda. He pointed out that Pineda was close to Mario Uribe, who the prosecutor notes allowed her to join his political movement, even though he obviously knew of her relationship with the paramilitaries.318 Indeed, starting in 2002 Pineda and Rocio Arias, another congresswoman, were the two most active and open defenders of the paramilitaries positions in Congress; they have both pled guilty to conspiring with paramilitaries.319 Yet Mario Uribe, who was the leader of the Colombia Democrática party, allowed both of them to remain within the ranks of the party until February of 2006, when it was reported in the Colombian media that US officials had warned that party leaders who kept politicians linked to paramilitaries in their ranks might have their US visas revoked.320 Another factor that might affect Pinedas testimony is fear. On October 5, 2007, shortly after Pineda pled guilty, one of her brothers was killed in the state of Córdoba; according to news reports, members of the military shot him, claiming he was a member of an armed group and had opened fire on them. Pinedas lawyer asserted that her brothers killing was meant to silence Pineda.321 Also, the prosecutor points out that there is another important piece of evidence against Mario Uribe that tips the scale in favor of Mancusos version of events: the unusual and very high spike in votes for Mario Uribe in the 2002 elections. Specifically, Sen. Uribe went from getting 3,985 votes in the 1998 elections to nearly triple that amount11,136 votesin the 2002 elections. Thats the time when, if Mancusos version is correct, he presumably would have benefited from the votes that Eleonora Pineda, with paramilitary backing, could have brought him. By the 2006 elections, when he had expelled Eleonora from the party, his votes once again dropped to 3,233.322 According to the prosecutors analysis, the unusual voting patterns are particularly noticeable in the municipalities, such as Montelíbano, Sahagún, and Planeta Rica, where Mancuso had supposedly ordered that people vote for Pineda and Uribe. The prosecutor explains that the paramilitaries apparently divided up the municipalities, ordering that some vote for Uribe and others for another candidateMiguel de la Espriellawho was also elected to the Senate. Mancuso stated that de la Espriella had been upset with Mancuso for offering some share of his votes to Mario Uribe, but Mancuso calmed him down by assuring him that he would be elected anyway. The prosecutor notes that De la Espriella lost votes in some municipalities in 2002 compared to the 1998 electionsand argues that Mario Uribe got those votes instead. The prosecutor did not accept Mario Uribes argument that the spike in votes for him was due to his association with the presidential candidate, Alvaro Uribe, because that argument would not explain the 2006 drop in votes (when Alvaro Uribe was once again running for president, with even higher popularity in the polls).323 In addition to the allegations about Uribes dealings with Mancuso in connection with the 2002 elections, the charges against Sen. Uribe are based on allegations that Sen. Uribe sought to work with the paramilitaries to pressure landowners to sell or give him cheap land in 1998. The allegations are based on the testimony of witness Jairo Castillo Peralta, also known as Pitirri. Castillo is a former paramilitary who operated in the state of Sucre. After leaving the paramilitaries ranks in the late 1990s, he began providing testimony to prosecutors in several cases. He now has political asylum in Canada and has continued testifying before the Colombian Supreme Court and prosecutors in the parapolitics cases. Castillo has testified that in 1998 he participated in a meeting with Mario Uribe and landowners, including Olegario Otero Bula, in Sahagun, Cordoba. According to Castillos testimony, Mario Uribe was seeking cheap land, and Castillo was ordered to look for such land, determine what people in the region were making payments to the paramilitaries, and seek out the onessuch as Mrs. Luz Marina Zapawho had not been paying their quota. 324 Castillo says that another of the ranches being targeted was La Alemania, which belonged to Rafael Zuleta. However, according to Castillo, he did not agree with the idea of targeting La Alemania because Zuleta had been cooperating with the group; also, Castillo says he was grateful to Zuleta (who he says had at times loaned Castillo money, years before, when Castillo was a rice farmer and Zuleta traded in grains). As a result, Castillo says he warned Zuleta that he might come under pressure over La Alemania. Luz Marina Zapa also testified and, according to the prosecutor, her testimony was consistent with Castillos. She described how initially she had sought out Castillo to ask him for his help in locating her husband, who had been kidnapped. She said initially he had been helpful, but later started to demand payments. Castillo agrees that he initially was going to help Mrs. Zapa, but had to change his behavior towards her because he had been given the order to demand money from her. When he went to collect the extortion money, Castillo was arrestedthe prosecutor says that Castillo claims the arrest was a trap set for him by Otero Bula, who had learned of Castillos warnings to Zuleta. The prosecutor notes that once Castillo started to cooperate with then-prosecutor Yolanda Paternina (who was subsequently assassinated), there was an attempt on his life, which led to his eventual departure for Canada. The prosecutor notes that Zuleta acknowledges having known Castillo from the days when Castillo was a rice farmer, but denies having been warned by Castillo about any effort to pressure him to give up his land. He accuses Castillo of being a liar, though he acknowledges having been the victim of persecution by paramilitaries and guerrillas. He also acknowledges that he did sell the La Alemania ranch in 2003 to get out of a situation that for me was too disturbing. He says that he never met the buyer, that he probably did not receive a fair price, and that the purchase probably had something to do with an armed group.325 A few months after his arrest, Mario Uribe was once again set free. Deputy Attorney General Guillermo Mendoza Diago granted an appeal Uribe made from the resolution ordering his arrest.326 In his decision reviewing the arrest order, Mendoza Diago goes over the evidence against Sen. Uribe and reaches the opposite conclusion from that reached by the prosecutor. First, Mendoza Diago concludes that Mancusos testimony against Sen. Uribe is not credible, due to his initial hesitation about whether he met with Mario Uribe once or twice. Mendoza Diago says that Eleonora Pinedas statements about the date of the meeting (after the elections) are more credible because he says she did not hesitate in describing them; also, he says, Eleonora Pineda was Mancusos political creation, and so she would have more reasons to side with Mancuso than with Mario Uribe. In addition, Mendoza Diago argues that Mancuso seemed confused about the subject of the meeting, whereas Pineda, he says, was clear in that the subject of the meeting was solely the discussion of the paramilitaries negotiations with the government. Mendoza Diago also does not find the voting patterns to be a significant piece of evidence against Mario Uribe. Noting that the voting pattern was certainly unusual, Mendoza Diago concludes that the spike is most likely due to Sen. Uribes association with President Uribe, as well as an agreement Sen. Uribe struck with a local political leader who helped get him votes. Finally, Mendoza Diago concludes that Castillos testimony is weak and contradicted by the other witnesses (whom Castillo had implicated). The fact that Castillos testimony is consistent with that of Mrs. Zapa, he says, is irrelevant as it simply proves that Castillo was extorting Mrs. Zapa. Based on this analysis, Mendoza Diago concluded that the evidence against Mario Uribe was insufficient to justify his detention and ordered his release.327 After the release, prosecutor Ramiro Marín, who had ordered Sen. Uribes detention, resigned, claiming that sources within the Attorney Generals Office had been unfairly attacking him for supposedly conducting a weak investigation.328 The case against Mario Uribe is not closed. But it is unclear how it will progress after the deputy attorney generals decision and the resignation of the prosecutor handling the investigation. It is likely to suffer some delays as a new prosecutor will have to be brought up to speed on the investigation. Initial Progress in Cases Related to Jorge 40s ComputerAs a result of the discovery of Jorge 40s computer, the Human Rights Unit of the Attorney Generals Office reported to Human Rights Watch that it opened 14 cases in which 66 people have come under investigation, another 44 are on trial, and 2 (including paramilitary leader Edgar Ignacio Fierro, alias Don Antonio) have pled guilty.329 One of those reportedly under investigation is Javier Alfredo Valle Anaya, former deputy director of the DAS office in Santa Marta. According to news reports, Valles name appears in one of the computer files as a friend of the paramilitary group headed by Jorge 40, and Don Antonio has also said he collaborated with him.330 The same reports indicate that Valle may have been involved in orchestrating the assassination of sociology professor Alfredo Correa de Andreis by members of Jorge 40s group.331 In addition, in collaboration with the National Judicial Police, the Attorney Generals Office in 2007 appears to have dealt an important blow to a paramilitary group known as Los 40 that was operating along the Pacific coast. The group, which was reportedly headed by some of Jorge 40s henchmen, was engaging in extortion and a variety of other criminal activities in Barranquilla and other cities in the coast. In August 2007, police arrested 50 alleged members of the group, including 18 members of the local police department, as well as members of the local intelligence services and the navy and two hospital directors, on top of 46 previously detained individuals.332 Delays and Cases of Concern in the Attorney Generals OfficeDelays in Initiating InvestigationsIn some cases, the Attorney Generals Office has appeared to be slow to initiate investigations of politicians linked to paramilitaries. For example, in early 2007, the Court initiated an investigation into Magdalena Sen. Dieb Maloof and ordered his arrest.333 At the same time, sources told Human Rights Watch, the Court asked the Attorney Generals Office to investigate Jorge Castro Pacheco, who had run for office alongside Maloof as his alternate for the senate seat.334 The Court also asked the Attorney Generals Office to investigate former congressmen Salomón Saade and José Gamarra, also from the state of Magdalena.335 The Court could not itself investigate these individuals, as they were not at the time sitting congressmen, but the Attorney Generals Office could have, and indeed, should have done so. Castro, Saade, and Gamarra had all been accused by witness Rafael García of participation in electoral fraud along with the Northern Block paramilitaries in 2002.336 In fact, the evidence against Saade, Gamarra, and Castro was, for the most part, the same as the evidence supporting the Courts investigation of Maloof.337 Yet while the investigation of Maloof has already resulted in a conviction,338 for a long period the Attorney Generals Office appeared not to move at all on the investigations of Saade, Gamarra, and Castro. In October 2007, Dieb Maloof resigned his Senate seat. Jorge Castro, his alternate, stepped in to replace Maloof.339 In early February 2008, the Supreme Court opened a formal investigation of Castro, who now fell under its jurisdiction.340 When Castro resigned in mid-February, the Supreme Court issued a statement calling into question the long delay by the Attorney Generals Office in initiating an investigation into Castro.341 Finally, in March 2008, a year after the Court had first asked the Attorney Generals Office to initiate the investigations, prosecutors opened a formal investigation into Castro, José Gamarra, and Salomón Saade. Attorney General Mario Iguarán publicly stated that the errors in this case had been corrected, and that the prosecutor in charge had been removed from her position. 342 Colombian Sen. Gina Parody recently sent a letter to Iguarán calling on him to ensure that the office moves more rapidly in the investigation of several cases involving regional and local politicians. Specifically, Sen. Parody inquired about the investigation of politicians who signed onto two pacts with paramilitaries, known as the pacts of Chivolo and Pivijay. The letter notes that more than 200 persons are estimated to have signed the Chivolo pact, yet prosecutors had only opened an investigation into one person. Sen. Parody stated that some congressmen have already been convicted in connection with the Pivijay pact, but their partners in the regions remain free and continue governing. Sen. Parody also expressed frustration at the office for failing to respond to previous inquiries about the progress of investigations into the killings of 21 local and regional officials around the time the pacts were signed, seven years ago. The letter notes that the parapolitics cases in Congress, which have mostly been handled by the Supreme Court, are only a minimal part of the phenomenon of macrocriminality that took over the regions, is reproducing, and wants to perpetuate itself there. Its useless to convict the congressmen if in the regions the structure remains intact.343 Attorney General Iguarán told Human Rights Watch that his office had made a lot of progress in cases involving parapolitics in the states of Magdalena and Cesar. With respect to these particular cases, he said, I found a dusty old file, and six or seven months ago I had it brought back, and now theyve been making progress.344 The Attorney Generals Office has also been slow to respond to Supreme Court inquiries in other cases. On October 4, 2007, the Courts Criminal Chamber wrote to Attorney General Mario Iguarán asking for basic informationprosecutor assigned to the case, case number, and current state of the investigationwith respect to 48 investigations that the Court had transferred to the Attorney Generals Office or had asked the office to open.345 These included investigations into congressmen, governors (including the current governor of the state of Antioquia), mayors, and members of the intelligence service, police, and armed forces. The attorney general did not respond to the letter, so on January 23, 2008, the Supreme Court reiterated the request. 346 According to various sources, since then the Office of the Attorney General has taken action on several of the cases that were the subject of the request, but it has never provided a written response to the Courts letter. 347 The Noguera Cases: Progress, Procedural Flaws and Failure to Follow Evidentiary LeadsJorge Noguera was the 2002 presidential campaign manager in the state of Magdalena for President Uribe, and then served as Uribes national DAS director from 2002 to 2005. At the end of 2005, he left the DAS in the midst of a corruption scandal, which resulted in the arrest of Rafael García, the head of information technology of that institution, who was charged with and eventually convicted of erasing or otherwise altering official records.348 President Uribe then appointed Noguera as Colombian consul in Milan, Italy. However, in mid-2006, García began to make public allegations claiming that the DAS under Noguera had closely collaborated with paramilitaries, primarily with Jorge 40s North Block. García said, for example, that the DAS had provided the paramilitaries with a list of labor union leaders and academics to be targeted, many of whom were subsequently threatened or killed. He also alleged that he and Noguera had worked closely with the paramilitaries in the state of Magdalena to carry out massive electoral fraud in favor of President Uribe during the 2002 presidential elections.349 The allegations and evidence against Noguera were serious enough that in December 2006 the United States revoked Nogueras U.S. visa. The Attorney Generals Office ordered his arrest shortly afterwards, in February 2007. 350 Both Noguera and Uribe denied the charges when they were first made public and Uribe lashed out aggressively against the media for reporting the allegations, accusing the publications and journalist involved of harming democracy.351 Uribe repeatedly defended Noguera in public statements for months afterwards.352 It was only in February 2007, once the Attorney Generals Office ordered Nogueras arrest, that Uribe publicly distanced himself from Noguera, stating that if he is convicted, my duty will be to offer my apologies to the nation.353 Yet even while Noguera was in detention, Nogueras lawyer, Orlando Perdomo, was able to enter the Presidential Palace on eight occasions over the course of six weeks between February 2, 2007, and March 16, 2007, (he previously entered once in 2006 as well).354 During these visits, according to reports by the presidential office itself, Perdomo on some occasions met with President Uribe himself along with Mauricio González, then the legal secretary for the president (and now a Constitutional Court justice). The purpose of all these meetings, according to official reports, was to discuss Nogueras prison conditions. 355 Over time several of Garcías allegations have been corroborated by other evidence. For example, the Attorney Generals Office is reported to have obtained evidence indicating that Jorge 40s cousin, Álvaro Pupo, visited Noguera on numerous occasions at his office in the DASGarcía had previously testified that Pupo was Nogueras liaison with Jorge 40.356 Similarly, prosecutors reportedly confirmed Garcías claim that during Nogueras tenure, paramilitary commander Hernán Giraldos file was erased from the DAS computer system.357 But the investigations of Noguera by the Attorney Generals Office have also suffered from a series of procedural difficulties. And one of the most potentially explosive investigationsthe investigation into electoral fraud in the 2002 presidential electionswas shut down shortly after it was opened. Charges for Collusion with ParamilitariesNoguera has already been the subject of disciplinary sanctions from the Colombian Inspector Generals Office for colluding with paramilitaries from Jorge 40s and Hernán Giraldos groups, altering records, and corruption.358 The Attorney Generals Office in early 2008 announced that it was formally charging Jorge Noguera with aggravated conspiracy for having allegedly colluded with paramilitaries when he served as President Uribes intelligence director between 2002 and 2005.359 However, the charges against Noguera were recently dismissed, and must be refiled, due to Attorney General Iguaráns decision to assign the investigation to one of his prosecutors, instead of conducting the investigation directly himself. As early as March 2007, a judge from the Superior Council of the Magistracy, Leonor Perdomo, had ordered Nogueras release pursuant to a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Perdomo ruled that because of his public functions, Noguera was entitled to be prosecuted directly by the attorney general, and that the attorney general could not, as he had done, delegate the investigation to another prosecutor.360 Iguarán expressed his surprise and disagreement with the ruling, and filed an appeal. 361 According to Iguarán, the appeal was decided by deputy attorney general Mendoza Diago, who ruled in Iguaráns favor. Therefore, he continued delegating investigative functions to another prosecutor.362 A year later, however, Noguera filed a motion for dismissal of the case against him because Iguarán had continued to delegate his functions to another prosecutor. The Supreme Court agreed with Noguera, ruling in June 2008 that Iguarán had failed to conduct the investigation directly as required by law, and therefore ordered Nogueras release.363 The Court notified the Committee on Accusations of the Congress of the decision, so that it would investigate Iguarán for omission.364 The Court did not annul the evidence that had been compiled in the case, and so Iguarán is free to refile charges against Noguera.365 However, Nogueras lawyers are taking advantage of the situation to file additional motions (such as a motion to recuse the prosecutor to whom Iguarán was delegating investigative functions), thereby delaying the case further.366 The Noguera case is complex and requires the collection and analysis of large amounts of evidence. It is therefore understandable that the attorney general would try to find a way to delegate most of the work to another prosecutor who will be able to dedicate his full attention to the case. In addition, Iguarán claims that the court ruling requiring him to handle the case directly was a departure from previous jurisprudence.367 However, in light of the court rulings holding that Iguarán must take the lead on the investigation, to continue delegating decision-making to another prosecutor would jeopardize the case. Iguarán told Human Rights Watch that he is committed to taking the lead on the case from now on, though he disagrees with the court ruling.368 Investigation for Trade Unionist KillingsRafael García alleged that during Nogueras tenure, DAS detectives had put together a list of trade unionists and others to be targeted by paramilitaries in the northern coast.369 García specifically noted that one of the persons who was targeted by paramilitaries using DAS information was sociology Professor Alfredo Correa de Andreis, who was killed in 2004.370 Among the computer files taken from Edgar Ignacio Fierro Florez there was a document entitled operations reports that includes a report about the execution of Correa de Andreis by the Northern Blocks Metropolitan Commission in Barranquilla.371 The Attorney Generals Office appears to be making some progress in the Correa de Andreis case. According to news reports, it is currently seeking the extradition from the United States of Javier Alfredo Valle Anaya, former deputy director of the DAS in Santa Marta, for his alleged involvement in the killing.372 Its unclear, however, how far that investigation has progressed with respect to Noguera himself or with respect to the killings of trade unionists on the list García described. Closed Investigation into Electoral FraudIn a surprising development, the Attorney Generals Office quickly closed its investigation into one of the most serious allegations that Rafael Garcia has made against Noguera: electoral fraud when Noguera was President Uribes presidential campaign manager. García has provided detailed testimony in cases against congressmen concerning his involvement in electoral fraud in the 2002 congressional elections in the state of Magdalena as well as in the 2002 presidential elections, in conjunction with the paramilitaries led by Jorge 40. According to García, he designed a database with census data on the local population: The idea was to design a computer program that would list for us or give us listings of voters based on any criteria, that is, by position, by zone, by voting booth, by municipality, or even by state, he explained in testimony concerning fraud in the congressional elections.373 Candidates backed by the paramilitaries later used that program to carry out fraud, for example, by having the election juries help them fill out voting cards for persons in that region who did not show up to vote. According to García, the fraud was so blatant that he was concerned it would be discovered and the elections would be challenged.374 Claudia López has noted that the State of Magdalena is the one that had the most atypical voting patterns of all the states in the 2002 congressional elections.375 García says that after the congressional elections, he and another person who worked with him received the order from one of the participants in the electoral fraud to go to the headquarters of the presidential campaign of doctor Álvaro Uribe Velez, as the plan was to carry out the same operation for that campaign. When we showed up, I found that Jorge Noguera Cotes was the regional director of the campaign in the state of Magdalena. García explains that he had known Noguera for many years, as they had worked together in other contexts.376 García adds that from the start Noguera knew by virtue of whom we had come to the campaign, and for what purpose. In fact, in the first meeting [we] showed Jorge Noguera the program containing the lists of voters, and explained how we carried out the electoral fraud. However [other persons] proposed that for the presidential campaign the fraud should be carried out in a smaller number of municipalities, so that the voting results would not be as scandalous as the ones in March. Garcia says that he and one of his associates in the fraud received about 200,000 pesos each in payment, and had their travel expenses covered, so there should be a record in the accounting of Uribes campaign. García says there was some friction within the campaign, which resulted in them having a narrower victory than they expected. But García notes that Magdalena was the only state on the Atlantic coast in which doctor Álvaro Uribe defeated the other candidate, doctor Serpa, in the presidential elections of 2002.377 García claims it is because of his work on electoral fraud in the presidential elections that Noguera later asked him to go to Bogotá and serve as information technology director for the DAS:
Despite these detailed statements, however, according to records that the Office of the Attorney General gave to Human Rights Watch, the investigation into facts related to supposed fraud in the congressional and presidential elections in 2002 in the state of Magdalena was closed on February 22, 2007.379 Attorney General Mario Iguarán told Human Rights Watch that the evidence was simply too thin to justify continuing the investigation at that time, so the prosecutors had decided to close the case, leaving open the possibility of reopening it in the future.380 However, it will be very difficult to reopen it, as the case was the subject of a preclusion resolutionthis means that the prosecutors decision to close the case is res judicata, and the investigation can be reopened only with great difficulty.381 Uribe Administration ResponseIn response to the parapolitics scandals, the Uribe administration has often spoken about the importance of the truth, and it has provided increased funding to the Supreme Court for the investigations.382 However, at the same time it has repeatedly taken steps that risk undermining the investigations and let politicians linked to paramilitaries off the hook. It has often launched aggressive and dangerous public attacks against the Supreme Court. When the administration had an opportunity to ensure meaningful reform of Congress to remove or reduce paramilitary influence, it chose instead to block the reform effort. A recent Uribe administration proposal to amend the Constitution would remove investigations of congressmen from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, further jeopardizing the parapolitics investigations. Proposal to let the Parapoliticians Out of PrisonIn April 2007 President Uribe announced a proposal to release from prison all politicians who are convicted of colluding with paramilitaries.383 The proposal went through various incarnations as it became a major focus of public discussion by Uribe and his cabinet members for several weeks, and the administration even went so far as to announce that a formal bill would be presented to Congress in May or June 2007.384 However, the democratic majority in the US Congress was simultaneously coming to a position on the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and both Nancy Pelosi, majority leader in the US House of Representatives, and former presidential candidate Al Gore had expressed serious concern over the parapolitics scandals.385 The proposal to let the paramilitaries accomplices off the hook was such an obvious blow to accountability and the dismantlement of paramilitary influence that it would almost certainly have become a significant obstacle to ratification of the FTA. In June 2007 the Uribe administration simply tabled the proposal.386 Attacks on the Supreme CourtSince the Supreme Court started the parapolitics investigations, President Uribe has repeatedly lashed out against the Court, publicly criticizing it, calling individual justices on the phone, making allegations against them that have later been found to be baseless, and even initiating criminal prosecutions of court members before the Accusations Commission of the Congress, which is controlled by his supporters. One early set of attacks came when the Court ruled, in July 2007, that paramilitarism was not a political crime that could be completely pardoned. President Uribe publicly and aggressively criticized the ruling, accusing the Court of suffering from an ideological bias.387 The attacks have continued since then. The Tasmania scandalIn early October 2007only days after the Court announced its indictment of Sen. Mario UribePresident Uribe began making a series of public statements accusing the Supreme Court of conspiring against him. 388 Specifically, Uribe said he was concerned over allegations made against Supreme Court Justice Iván Velásquez by imprisoned mid-level paramilitary commander José Orlando Moncada Zapata, alias Tasmania. A letter signed by Tasmania and addressed to the president a month before, on September 11th, stated that Judge Velásquez had offered benefits to him and his family in exchange for implicating Uribe in the attempted assassination of Tasmanias former commander, paramilitary Alcides de Jesús Durango, alias René.389 Both the content and timing of Uribes claims and the letter raised suspicions that this was primarily an attempt to intimidate and undermine the credibility of a key investigator in the parapolitics investigations. Velásquez is highly respected for his long record of conducting serious investigations into difficult issues. According to sources within the judicial system, Velásquez deserves much of the credit for initiating the parapolitics investigations, and organizing the team of investigators within the Supreme Court that carried them forward. As a result, the media has often referred to him as the star magistrate of parapolitics. At the time of Uribes statements, he was spearheading the team of investigators looking into parapolitics.390 Velásquez had in fact interviewed Tasmania in Medellín on September 10. It was later revealed that the president was immediately informed of the interview by his brother Santiago Uribe, who says he found out about it because he is the neighbor of Tasmanias lawyer, Sergio González.391 President Uribe had called Justice Velásquez on the phone on the very same day the letter was sent, September 11, to complain about the allegations. However, he did not make the letter public until nearly a month later. The Uribe administration claims that it waited to make the letter public until the President received confirmation from the DAS concerning the authenticity of the fingerprint and identification number of Tasmania.392 According to Velásquez, when Uribe called him on the night of the September 11, Velásquez explained openly that he had in fact met with Tasmania the previous day, but that no mention was made of the president and that in any case as a Supreme Court magistrate he has no jurisdiction to investigate the president, as only the Accusations Committee of the Congress may do so.393 Velásquezs statements were corroborated by the public prosecutor from Medellín, Ana Elena Gutiérrez, who was responsible for investigating Tasmania and accompanied Judge Velásquez during the interview.394 On June 18, 2008, Tasmania publicly retracted his accusations of Velásquez and said that the letter had been part of a strategy to discredit the justice. He said the strategy was masterminded by his lawyer Sergio González and a major drug trafficker known as Juan Carlos Sierra, El Tuso, who was also a client of Gonzálezs and who according to the news media is alleged to have had land deals with Sen. Mario Uribe.395 According to Semana magazine, El Tuso had offered a significant amount of money to Tasmania if he ruined the image of Velásquez; however, due to El Tusos extradition to the United States in May 2008, the payment was not completed and Tasmania backed out of the deal.396 Columnist Daniel Coronell, writing in Semana, says thatboth Tasmania and paramilitary commander Ernesto Báez have said that the presidents brother, Santiago Uribe, and cousin, Mario Uribe, were somehow involved in the attempt to delegitimize the Supreme Courts investigations into the parapolitics scandal.397 In a recorded statement to Justice Velásquez, Tasmania said that he was very afraid that he would be killed, that he had signed the letter to President Uribe without understanding its content, and that in exchange for doing so, his lawyer had told him he would receive a house for his mother and money, and that he would be allowed to enter the Justice and Peace Law process. Tasmania also told Velásquez that Sergio Gonzalez had mentioned that Mario Uribe and Santiago Uribe were going to help him.398 After Tasmanias retraction, the Office of the Attorney General closed its investigation of Velásquez, and ordered that Tasmania, Sergio González, and a former paramilitary, Eduin Guzman, be investigated for the setup. In closing the case, Attorney General Mario Iguarán stated that it had been a set-up directed against the Supreme Court, which included the deception of the President of the Republic.399 Despite Tasmanias statements, the Office of the Attorney General has failed to order any investigation into whether Mario and Santiago Uribe played any role in the setup. In an interview with Human Rights Watch, Iguarán said that such an investigation could not be conducted because the names of Mario and Santiago Uribe appeared nowhere in the case file, so prosecutors had no basis on which to investigate them.400 Human Rights Watch has not had direct access to Tasmanias official statements to prosecutors, which are confidential. However, if the media reports are accurate in indicating that Tasmania told investigators from the Attorney Generals Office that Mario and Santiago Uribe had been involved in the setup, it is unclear why those statements have not led to any investigation of the two. Defamation Charges against Supreme Court President ValenciaIn addition to the Tasmania accusations, President Uribe has repeatedly attacked Justice Cesar Julio Valencia, who served as Supreme Court president through the first few months of 2008, and is a member of the Courts civil chamber. Uribe publicly labeled Valencia a phony on the radio in October 2007.401 And shortly after the Court had indicted Mario Uribe, President Uribe not only started making his public accusations against Velásquez over the Tasmania allegations, but also personally called Justice Valencia from New York. In a later interview, Valencia stated that during the call, Uribe expressed his displeasure over some decisions the criminal chamber had been taking and, in unclear terms referred to some acts by an assistant justice.402 When asked specifically whether Uribe had referred concretely to his cousins case, Valencia said yes. Uribe has recognized that he did call Valencia on the day of the indictment, but claims that he never inquired about Mario Uribes case. After Valencias interview, Uribe filed criminal charges against Valencia for defamation and slander.403 Uribes charges against Justice Valencia are now being investigated by the Accusations Committee of the Colombian House of Representatives, which is composed overwhelmingly by members of Uribes coalition in Congress.404 In mid-2008, two officials from the Uribe administration announced that they were filing additional criminal charges against members of the Supreme Courts criminal chamber. They decided to file the charges shortly after the Court issued a ruling in which it convicted a congresswoman, Yidis Medina, based on her guilty plea of having accepted bribes from Uribe administration officials to vote in favor of the constitutional amendment that allowed Uribes reelection in 2006.405 According to Medina, two of Uribes cabinet members, Diego Palacios and Sabas Pretelt, had approached her and Congressman Teodolindo Avedaño in the days prior to a crucial vote on the reelection by a committee on which they both served.406 Medina stated that Palacios and Pretelt had promised her money and the appointment to public offices of a series of individuals close to her in exchange for her vote in favor of the reelection bill.407 After the ruling, in a press conference with President Uribe, Palacio adamantly denied all charges brought against him by the Inspector Generals Office. He claimed that the court had made false and injurious accusations, which he would take before the Accusations Commission of the House of Representatives. 408 At the same time, High Commissioner for Peace Luis Carlos Restrepo announced he was filing charges before the same Commission against the justices for alleged links to drug traffickers.409 Paramilitaries in the Presidential PalaceSemana magazine has revealed that on April 23, 2008, the lawyer for Don Berna, Diego Álvarez, entered the Presidential Palace along with Antonio López (also known as Job). Job was a demobilized paramilitary and close associate of Don Berna and, according to Semana, most law enforcement agencies considered him to be an active member of the Envigado Office, a powerful criminal mafia in Medellín.410 Human Rights Watch had for months received information indicating Job had links to criminal activities, including alleged killings, in the Comuna 8 neighborhood of Medellin. At the Palace, the Presidency acknowledges, Job and Álvarez met with the Presidents Legal Secretary, Edmundo del Castillo, and with César Mauricio Velásquez, press secretary for the Presidency. Press secretary Velásquez has acknowledged that before the April 23 meeting, he had previously met twice with Álvarez. During the April 23 meeting, Job gave the officials audio and video recordings that appeared designed to smear the court and Justice Iván Velásquez.411 In one of the recordings Job reportedly gave to administration officials on April 23, attorney Henry Anaya appears talking to Álvarez, saying hes a representative of the Supreme Court. Anaya offers to help Don Berna in exchange for information and statements. He also asks for money. In fact, Anaya has no formal relationship to the Court, though he has met with members of the Court in the past. According to Semana, when the paramilitary chief, his lawyer and others ... designed the strategy of the clandestine recordings, they knew that one of the most efficient and fast ways to smear the Court was using Anaya. Bernas men knew of the good relations and friendship that Anaya had with some magistrates and thats why they contacted him, as one of the planners of the plot told Semana. Anaya knew Justice Iván Velasquez, as he had previously introduced potential witnesses to Velásquez. At the request of Anaya and Bernas lawyer, Velásquez attended some meetings with them, to discuss possible collaboration by DonBerna in parapolitics cases. In the meetings, Bernas lawyer told Velásquez his client was willing to help in certain investigations in exchange for some benefits. Velásquezs response in the recording is simply to explain what the legally available benefits are. Immediately after the meeting, Semana reports that Job made calls to one of his associates and to Don Berna (who was in the Picota prison), reporting that everything had gone very well in the Casa de Nari (the Casa de Nariño is the official name of the Palace). After the Semana article appeared, President Uribe stated that he did not forbid the meeting with Bernas lawyer and Job because the Presidential Palace is ready to receive any information any citizen may have about matters of public concern. Also, he said, the Presidency did not report the information turned over by Job and Don Bernas lawyer to the Attorney Generals Office or any of the other appropriate authorities because the recordings were still being transcribed by the DAS. In addition, Uribe said, they had concluded that the information was irrelevant. However, Semana reports that a source in the Presidential Palace did apparently leak supposed transcripts of some of the recordings to a media source. 412 Semana also reports that it had access to the recordings as well as to the transcripts that officials in the Presidential Palace leaked to a media source, and states that despite the fact that the recordings have inaudible sections, the transcripts made by the Palace of Nariño have sections that are not in the audio recordings. The transcripts that the Palace leaked to the press have lengthy sections against the Court that do not appear in the recordings.413 The timing of the meeting is also unusual. In mid-April 2008, Don Berna had for the first time given a statement to the Court, in which he stated that he has knowledge of some links of some politicians of the country, but he requested an opportunity to meet with some other members of his organization before providing details. The Court acceded to his request, and a meeting was set for Berna to talk with his associates for April 24the day after Job and Bernas lawyer were at the Presidential Palace. When Berna was once again called to testify before the Court in late April, he refused to elaborate on his earlier statements.414 The timing raises the question of why, after the meeting in the Presidential Palace, Berna suddenly decided not to talk about the politicians after all. Within a matter of days, Berna was extradited to the United States. In addition, in their public statements about the meeting, Uribe administration officials failed, for two weeks, to mention a fact that Semana later revealed: that two other persons had also attended the meeting with Job in the Presidential Palace. Those persons were Juan José Chaux, then Colombian ambassador to the Dominican Republic, and Oscar Iván Palacio, a lobbyist and lawyer who had worked with President Uribe when he was Governor of Antioquia. In a press release, the Uribe government later recognized that Chaux and Palacio had both attended the meeting as well.415 It is now up to the Office of the Attorney General and the Accusations Commission of the Congress to conduct a thorough investigation of these events. Job, however, is no longer available to testify. On July 28, 2008, two men shot Job to death while he was eating at a restaurant in the prosperous Las Palmas district, on the road from the Rionegro airport into Medellín. Job had many enemies, according to Semanaincluding Don Mario, from a rival armed groupand even possibly Don Berna himself. A letter found on Jobs body reportedly suggests that Job might have been lying to Berna about expenses related to bribes and payments to lawyers, so as to pad his own wallet.416 Effect on the JusticesThe Supreme Court has publicly stood firm in the face of the repeated accusations and attacks by Uribe administration officials. In August, it issued a statement in which it noted its concern over how
In a recent seminar, the current president of the Supreme Court, Francisco Ricaurte, addedalluding to the 1986 guerrilla taking of the Palace of Justice that resulted in the deaths of 11 members of the Court at the timethat "just as the Court did not, over two decades ago, allow itself to be stopped by the violent ones who sought to quiet it and consume it in flames, nor will it do so now in the face of those who seek to silence it so that impunity may prevail.418 But the constant attacks and campaigns understandably take a toll on the justices handling these investigationsmany of whom have spent their entire careers in Colombias justice system and cannot easily leave their jobs. In a recent interview with El Tiempo, Justice Iván Velásquez spoke of the possibility of resigning, stating its been plenty. Its not fair, there is no right that in response to a service that I believe Im offering adequately, that requires permanent dedication and that affects ones family, personal life and tranquility, there is a constant persecution, permanent efforts to attack.419 Sources familiar with the Supreme Court and its members told Human Rights Watch that the governments repeated verbal attacks on the justices have had a serious impact on the wellbeing of several of them, who now live in constant fear that they will become the next targets of false accusations. Some of them also have concerns over their personal security.420 Justice Iván Velásquez has filed a request for precautionary measures, for his security, with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.421 Failure to Adequately Reform CongressIn mid-2008, the Uribe administration blocked a promising bill that had been designed to reform Congress and remove or reduce paramilitaries influence. With 20 percent of Congress under investigation for ties with the paramilitaries and 33 congressmen already in jail, urgent action was required to reestablish the credibility of the legislature, which in early June 2008 held a confidence rating of 14.7 percent.422 In 2007 Colombian Senator Gina Parody proposed the empty seat bill, which was designed to sanction political parties whose members were arrested for collaborating with illegal armed groups. The main point of the bill was to bar parties from simply replacing members of congress who were in detention for ties with illegal armed groups with other politicians from the same party. In other words, if a congressman were arrested for paramilitary ties, his seat would remain emptyhis party would not be able to name a substitute, as it normally does.423 The bill was drafted in response to a key finding of the various studies of parapolitics: that paramilitary influence is often tied not only to a specific politician who strikes a deal with the paramilitaries, but also to the party itself.424 According to standard procedure, when a congressman leaves his seat, he is simply replaced by the next name on his partys list.425 Consequently, simply replacing imprisoned congressmen under charges of ties with the paramilitaries with other members of parties who may have benefited from the same ties meant that the paramilitary influence in the Congress could remain more or less intact.426 As explained by Claudia López, the empty seat reform is necessary because:
However, the initiative ultimately failed after the Uribe administration strongly opposed the reform. 428 Of the 20 percent of Congress that is under investigation, nearly all are members of Uribes coalition.429 The then Minister of the Interior and Justice, Carlos Holguín, openly stated that he opposed the empty seat reform proposal because the Uribe administration was unwilling to lose its majorities in Congress. In Holguíns words the initiative puts the composition of Congress in the hands of a judge.430 Recently, the Uribe administration has proposed a political reform bill that includes measures similar to the empty seat proposal, but would only start applying it to new vacancies as of the date of the bills approvalthat is, at the earliest, starting in 2009.431 As a result, it would not address the current problem of parties simply replacing politicians who have been arrested for paramilitary links with other members of the same party. According to Minister of Interior and Justice Fabio Valencia Cossio, the empty seat measure cant be applied to past situations, as the replacements for the congressmen who resigned have already acquired a right to that seat. 432 But this explanation does not address the argument, compellingly made by Claudia López, that if a party obtained a seat illegitimately, through cooperation with paramilitaries or other illegal means, it has no entitlement to keep that seaton the contrary, such behavior should be sanctioned. Judicial Reform ProposalIn July 2008 the Uribe administration announced a proposal for a series of constitutional amendments that could be a fatal blow to the parapolitics investigations. Among the amendments that Uribe initially proposed was a provision that would remove all investigations of members of Congress from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. Instead, trials would be conducted before a local court in Bogotá, and the Supreme Court would only hear appeals. Later, the proposal was modified so that the trial would be conducted by the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court; but the power of investigation would be shifted to the Office of the Attorney General, and congresspersons would be able to appeal the Supreme Courts rulings to another of Colombias high courts, the Superior Council of the Judicature.433 The government has justified its proposed amendments by invoking two basic due process rights: defendants right to be tried by an impartial tribunal, separate from the entity that investigates them; and their right to an appeal.434 Currently, the criminal chamber of the Supreme Court both conducts the investigations and tries the congressmen. There is no appeal from its rulings. These are important problems that need to be addressed. However, there are other solutions that would not jeopardize the parapolitics investigations and would not require removing jurisdiction over the initial investigations from the Supreme Court. Minister Valencia Cossio told Human Rights Watch that the governments proposal was drafted to fulfill a ruling by the Constitutional Court that required separating the trial from the investigation.435 However, the governments proposal is not consistent with the Courts ruling, which had urged the Colombian Congress to issue legislationwithout amending the Constitutionto separate, within the Supreme Court itself, the functions of investigation and trial of congressmen.436 The same could be done with respect to appeals, as the Colombian Constitution provides that the Supreme Court may be divided into however many chambers the law determines, and various functions may be assigned to specific chambers or judges. Thus, instead of amending the constitution and removing the investigations from the Supreme Court, the Congress could easily pass a law assigning the function of investigation, trial, and appeals to various chambers or panels of the court. For example, the law could assign the investigations to a panel of investigative judges in the criminal chamber, trial to another panel, and appeal to an ad-hoc appeals chamber made up of judges who ordinarily serve in the civil or labor chamber of the Court. When Human Rights Watch asked Minister Valencia Cossio about the possibility of solving the problem in the manner suggested above he recognized that creating different chambers and dividing functions within the Supreme Court itself was a viable option. In his words, in the governments proposal there are no immovables or dogmas. However, when pressed on why the government did not simply change its proposal in this manner, he said that the government had already made its proposal, and it was up to the courts to make a counterproposal: they have opposed, but they havent proposed, he said.437 Given the risk that the proposal could undermine current and future parapolitics investigations, the government itself should amend the proposal. Should the amendments be approved, they might affect not only future cases, but also investigations that have already been started by the Supreme Court. Valencia Cossio told Human Rights Watch that the governments proposal would specifically provide that the amendments are not to be applied retroactivelyso they would not apply to members of congress already under investigation by the Supreme Court.438 But other constitutional experts consulted by Human Rights Watch warned that many of the defendants would invoke the constitutional principle of favorability to file appeals demanding that they be granted the favorable treatment provided by the new amendments.439 The proposal has undergone some changes since Uribe initially described it, but as of this writing the most troubling aspects of the proposal remained in place and it was starting to undergo debate in the Colombian Congress. 295 The Chamber of Deputies is charged with accusing the president of the Republic, magistrates of the [high courts], and the attorney general; and the Senate is then charged with deciding such cases, even if [the officials in question] are no longer in office. Constitution of Colombia, arts. 174, 178. 296 Osorio Devastó la Fiscalía, El Espectador, January 8, 2008 http://www.elespectador.com/impreso/cuadernilloa/judicial/articuloimpreso-osorio-devasto-fiscalia (accessed March 21, 2008 ). 297 Margarita Martínez, Colombia Paramilitary Boss Speaks Out, Associated Press, February 13, 2002. 298 Congreso, en la Mira Para, El Tiempo, March 17, 2002, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-1349513 (accessed August 15, 2008). 299 Habla Vicente Castaño, Semana, June 5, 2005, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=87628 (accessed April 30, 2008). 300 Clara López Obregón, Gracias a denuncia formulada por López Obregón, corte llama a declarar a Castaño y a Mancuso, undated, http://www.claralopez.net/Claralopez/Columnas/nota1.htm (accessed March 18, 2008). 301 Human Rights Watch interviews, Bogotá, December 2007. 302Claudia López, Heroes who have not reinserted themselves, Semana, September 9, 2005, issue 1239. 303 Ibid. 304 When will He Resign? Semana, April 8, 2006, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=93809 (accessed August 14, 2008). 305 40 congresistas firmaron compromiso político con Autodefensas, reconoce Miguel de la Espriella, El Tiempo, November 27, 2006, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-3342872 (accessed August 15, 2008); Así se Tejio El Pacto Secreto de 2001en Santa Fe de Ralito, El Tiempo, January 21, 2007, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-2364267 (accessed August 15, 2008). 306 Colombias Constitution provides that the Supreme Court is charged with investigating and trying members of Congress. However, if the defendants are no longer in office, the Supreme Court may only continue investigating them for criminal acts that bear a relation to the functions performed. Constitution of Colombia, art 235. In most cases in which congressmen have resigned, the Court has considered that the crimes under investigation did not bear a relation to their official functions as congressmen. 307 Renunció la canciller María Consuelo Araújo, por escándalo de 'parapolítica', El Tiempo, February 19, 2007, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-3444516 (September 25, 2008). 308 Office of the Deputy Attorney General of Colombia, File S.I. 032: Álvaro Araújo Castro, January 18, 2008. 309 Ibid. 310 Ibid. 311 Venezuela dice que la extradición de Araújo a Colombia podría tardar semanas, EFE, September 8, 2008; Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Colombian Attorney General Mario Iguarán, October 2, 2008. 312 Sibylla Brodzinsky, Los escándalos afectan a Uribe en Washington, El Nuevo Herald, April 25, 2008, http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/america_latina/story/195721.html (accessed September 25, 2008). 313 Fiscalia General de la Nacion, Unidad de Fiscalia ante la Corte Suprema, Radicado 11.499-8: Mario Uribe Escobar, Situacion Juridica, April 21, 2008. 314 Nelson Parra, Senador Mario Uribe fue capturado luego de que Costa Rica le negó asilo, El Tiempo, April 22, 2008, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-4114040 (accessed September 25, 2008). 315 Fiscalía General de la Nacion, Unidad de Fiscalia ante la Corte Suprema, Radicado 11.499-8: Mario Uribe Escobar, Situacion Juridica, April 21, 2008 316 Ibid. 317 Antonio Rafael Sanchez, a journalist who Mancuso claims was present at the second meeting with Mario Uribe, testified that he was not present at that meeting. Instead, he says that he was leaving Mancusos ranch in 2002, after the elections, when he say Uribe and Pineda arrive together. However, the prosecutor points out that Sanchez disappeared the day in which he was supposed to give his statement, and was only interviewed after investigators located him that night. The prosecutor also says that Sanchez seems to be trying to satisfy everyoneagreeing with Mancuso in that a meeting happened, but agreeing with Mario Uribe and Pineda on the dates. Ibid. 318 Ibid. 319 Condenada Rocio Arias, Semana, July 16, 2007, http://semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?idArt=113636 (accessed September 25, 2008). Asesinan a Polo Bautista Pineda, hermano de la ex congresista Eleonora Pineda, El Tiempo, October 5, 2007, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-3754278 (accessed September 25, 2008). 320 EU mete mano a las listas, El Tiempo, February 3, 2006, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-1904478 (accessed September 25, 2008). However, a US State Department spokesman denied having reviewed parties lists. E.U. Niega Presión A Partidos, El Tiempo, February 4, 2006, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-1905588 (accessed September 25, 2008). 321 Asesinato de hermano de Eleonora Pineda estaría relacionado con sus declaraciones, afirma abogado, El Tiempo, October 6, 2007, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-3755581 (accessed September 25, 2008). 322 Fiscalia General de la Nacion, Unidad de Fiscalia ante la Corte Suprema, Radicado 11.499-8: Mario Uribe Escobar, Situacion Juridica, April 21, 2008 323 Ibid. 324 Ibid. 325 Ibid. 326 Despacho del Vicefiscal General de la Nacion, Expediente S.I. 042: Mario Uribe Escobar, August 19, 2008. 327 Ibid. 328 Por qué renuncié, Semana, August 30, 2008, http://www.semana.com/noticias-nacion/renuncie/114952.aspx (accessed September 25, 2008). 329 Letter from Sandra Castro, Director of the Human Rights Unit, Attorney Generals Office, to Francisco Etcheverry, Director of International Affairs, responding to questions submitted by Human Rights Watch, April 3, 2008. 330 Pedirán en extradición a ex subdirector del DAS en Santa Marta por crimen de Correa de Andreis, El Tiempo, April 23, 2008, http://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/2008-04-24/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-4118617.html (accessed April 28, 2008). 331 Ibid. 332 Los 40 principales, Semana, September 8, 2007, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?idArt=106114 (accessed April 28, 2008). 333 Por la para-política, el senador Dieb Maloof también renunció al fuero parlamentario, RCN News, October 9, 2007, http://noticiasrcn.com.co/content/la-pol%C3%ADtica-senador-dieb-maloof-tambi%C3%A9n-renunci%C3%B3-al-fuero-parlamentario (accessed March 21, 2008). 334 Human Rights Watch interviews (names withheld), Bogota, February 2008. 335 Ibid. 336 Salomon Saade encabezó lista al Congreso por orden de Jorge 40, dijo ex jefe de informatica del DAS, El Tiempo, January 31, 2007. The New Revelations of Rafael Garcia, former information technology chief of the DAS, about parapolitics, Cambio, Issue 700, November. 27, 2006, http://www.cambio.com.co/portadacambio/700/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR_CAMBIO-3381919.html (accessed March 21, 2008). 337 Human Rights Watch interviews (names withheld), Bogota, February 2008. 338 Cuatro años y nueve meses de cárcel pagará el ex senador Dieb Maloof por parapolítica, El Tiempo, January 15, 2008. 339 Senador Jorge Castro renuncia al Congreso, RCN News, February 14, 2008, http://noticiasrcn.com.co/content/senador-jorge-castro-renuncia-al-congreso (accessed March 21, 2008). 340 A indagatoria Jorge Castro por parapolítica, El Espectador, February 8, 2008, http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/politica/articulo-indagatoria-jorge-castro-parapolitica (accessed March 21, 2008). 341 A indagatoria tres congresistas por parapolítica, El Espectador, March 11, 2008, http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/politica/articulo-indagatoria-tres-ex-congresistas-parapolitica (accessed August 15, 2008). 342 Ibid. 343 Letter to Attorney General Mario Iguarán from Gina María Parody, Senator of the Republic of Colombia, August 12, 2008, http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/politica/2008-08-13/texto-de-la-carta-de-gina-parody-la-fiscal-general-de-la-nacion_4443153-1 (accessed August 28, 2008). 344 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Attorney General Mario Iguarán, October 2, 2008. 345 Letter to Attorney General Mario Iguarán from the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, January 23, 2008. Habla la Fiscal Destituida, El Espectador, March 19, 2008. 346 Ibid. 347 Human Rights Watch interviews (names withheld), Bogota, July 2008. 348 El DAS en el Fogoón, El Tiempo, October 17, 2005, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-1808313 (accessed August 15, 2008). Condenaron al ex jefe de informática del DAS, Rafael García, de 18 años de prisón, El Tiempo, Ocobter 24, 2006, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-3297595 (accessed August 15, 2008). Las Pruebas Clave que Llevaron a Juicio al Ventilador del DAS, El Tiempo, April 20, 2006, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-1993645 (accessed August 15, 2008). 349 La Fiscalia acusa a Jorge Noguera de haber puesto el DAS al servicio de los paras, Semana, February 1, 2008, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=109123 (accessed August 15, 2008). 350 US revokes the visa of former DAS director, EFE News Service, April 28, 2008. 351 Frank Bajak, Colombian president attacks the press, Associated Press, April 17, 2008. Uribe Intimida a la Prensa: Ong, El Tiempo, April 17, 2006, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-1989635 (accessed August 15, 2008). Human Rights Watch, Uribe Must End Attacks on Media, April 17, 2006, http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/04/17/colomb13196.htm (accessed August 15, 2008). 352 Si Él Se Equivocó, Debe ir a La Cárcel, Dice Uribe, El Tiempo, April 11, 2006, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-1985228 (accessed August 15, 2008). Noeguera Renunció Tras Cita a Indagatoria, El Tiempo, May 9, 2006, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-2016268 (accessed August 15, 2008). 353 La Captura de Noguera, El Tiempo, February 24, 2007, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-2398163 (accessed August 5, 2008). 354 Letter from Mauricio González, Legal Secretary of the Presidency, in response to a citizens requests for information, April 18, 2007. Letter from Mauricio González, Legal Secretary of the Presidency, in response to a citizens requests for information, May 11, 2007. 355 Ibid. 356 Noguera se Incrustó en las AUC: Fiscalía, El Tiempo, March 11, 2007, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-2412275 (accessed August 5, 2008). 357 Datos Borrados De Un Ex Jefe Paramilitar Enredan A Noguera, El Tiempo, November 24, 2006, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-2289489 (accessed August 5, 2008). 358 Colombian Inspector Generals office, sentence against Jorge Aurelio Noguera Cotes and Giancarlo Auqué, November 14, 2007. The sentence bars Noguera from holding public office for 18 years. 359 Llaman a juicio al ex director del DAS Jorge Noguera por presuntos vínculos con paramilitares, El Tiempo, February 1, 2008, http://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/2008-02-01/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3941487.html (accessed March 18, 2008). 360 Noguera salió pero volverian a capturarlo, El Tiempo, March 24, 2007. 361 Carrerón En La Fiscalía Para Devolver A Noguera A La Cárcel, El Tiempo, March 24, 2007, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-2426389 (accessed August 5, 2008). 362 Human Rights Watch phone interview with Colombian Attorney General Mario Iguarán, August 15, 2008. 363 Corte Suprema ordena la libertad inmediata para Jorge Noguera Cotes, ex director del DAS, El Tiempo, June 11, 2008, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-4253084 (accessed August 5, 2008). 364 Ibid. 365 Noguera Pide A La Corte Anular Pruebas En Su Caso Breves, El Tiempo, June 21, 2008, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-2983605 (accessed August 5, 2008). 366 Mientras Corte Resuelve Recusaciones, No Despega El Caso Contra Noguera, El Tiempo, June 24, 2008, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-2987130 (accessed August 5, 2008). 367 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Colombian Attorney General Mario Iguarán, October 2, 2008. 368 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Colombian Attorney General Mario Iguarán, August 15, 2008. 369 Semana interview with Rafael Garcia, available for download at ¿Cuándo renunciará? Semana, April 8, 2006 http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=93806, (accessed March 20, 2008). 370 Ibid. 371 Office of the Attorney General of Colombia, internal analysis concerning Northern Block of AUC, August 2006, obtained by Human Rights Watch. 372 Extraditarán A Ex Das Por Crimen De Correa De Andreis, El Tiempo, April 24, 2008, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-2910160 (accessed August 5, 2008). 373 Colombian Supreme Court, Acta de la Diliigencia de Declaración Rendida por el Señor Rafael Enrique García Torres, Bogotá, November 21, 2006. 374 Ibid. 375 Email message from Claudia López to Human Rights Watch, August 26, 2008. 376 Colombian Supreme Court, Acta de la Diliigencia de Declaración Rendida por el Señor Rafael Enrique García Torres, Bogotá, November 21, 2006. English translation by Human Rights Watch. 377 Ibid. 378 Ibid. 379 Letter from Francisco Javier Echeverri Lara Director of International Affairs, Office of the Attorney General of Colombia, sent to Human Rights Watch, May 6, 2008, attaching letter from Carlos Fernando Espinosa Blanco, Administrative Secretary, Unit of Prosecutors Delegated before the Supreme Court, to Francisco Javier Echeverri Lara, April 25, 2008. 380 Human Rights Watch telephone interviews with Attorney General Mario Iguarán, August 15, 2008 and October 2, 2008. 381 Letter from Francisco Javier Echeverri Lara Director of International Affairs, Office of the Attorney General of Colombia, sent to Human Rights Watch, May 6, 2008, attaching letter from Carlos Fernando Espinosa Blanco, Administrative Secretary, Unit of Prosecutors Delegated before the Supreme Court, to Francisco Javier Echeverri Lara, April 25, 2008. Human Rights Watch interview with Colombian Attorney General Mario Iguarán, October 2, 2008. 382 Ir por la verdad total reta Uribe, El Tiempo, November 18, 2006, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-2282999 (accessed August 15, 2008); Corte Suprema tendrá su propio aparato de investigación para adelantar procesos de 'parapolítica', El Tiempo, December 20, 2006, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-3373284 (accessed August 15, 2008). Human Rights Watch interviews, Bogota, December 2007 and February 2008. 383 Interview with President Álvaro Uribe Velez, RCN Radio and La FM, May 25, 2007, http://www.altocomisionadoparalapaz.gov.co/noticias/2007/mayo/mayo_25_07a.htm (accessed March 21, 2008). Letter from Human Rights Watch to President Álvaro Uribe, June 6, 2007, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/06/06/colomb16092.htm. 384 Gobierno reconsideró decisión de proponer excarcelación total para vinculados con paramilitares, El Tiempo, May 28, 2007, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-3574636 ( accessed August 30, 2008). 385 Colombia President Defends His Government: Rights Cases Threaten to Detail Trade Pact, Washington Post, May 5, 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/04/AR2007050402186.html (accessed August 4, 2008). Colombia President Denies Ties to Paramilitary Groups, Washington Post, April 2, 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/20/AR2007042001277.html (accessed August 4, 2008). 386 El Gobierno frena proyecto de ley ante el congreso para excarcelar a parapolíticos,El Tiempo, June 4, 2007, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-3582432 (accessed August 4, 2008). 387 Uribe acusa a los magistrados de la Corte Suprema de tener un sesgo ideológico, Semana, July 27, 2007, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=105229 (accessed August 4, 2008). 388 La Corte Suprema le dice al Presidente Uribe que no hay complot y exige respeto a su trabajo, Semana, September 9, 2007, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=106796 (accessed July 23, 2008). 389 El Presidente Álvaro Uribe exige investigar el origen de un testimonio de un paramilitar que lo vincula con un asesinato, Semana, October 8, 2007, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=106783 (accessed August 4, 2008). Although the president did not make reference to the fact in his press release, Tasmanias original letter also claims that Velasquez had attempted to implicate the presidents first cousin, Mario Uribe, in support of paramilitary groups in the southwest of Antioquia. Carta de Tasmania dirigida al presidente Uribe, Semana , October 9, 2007, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=106784 (accessed August 4, 2008). Tasmania had in fact been arrested in the southwest Antioquia, one of Mario Uribes electoral strongholds. La Corte Suprema le dice al Presidente Uribe que no hay complot y exige respeto a su trabajo, Semana , October 9, 2007, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=106796 (accessed Agust 4, 2008). While Tasmania acknowledged having carried out an attempt on the life of René in 2003, he claimed that it had nothing to do with President Uribe. Abogado de Tasmania da detalles de reunión con magistrado que pidió implicar a Uribe en atentado, El Tiempo, October 12, 2008, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-3764422 (accessed August 4, 2008). In 2005, while refusing to participate in the demobilization process scheduled for his group, René had claimed to the High Commissioner for Peace, Luis Carlos Restrepo, that Uribe had wanted to kill him. René disobeyed presidential orders requiring all AUC leaders to report to the prison of La Ceja and was eventually arrested in June of 2007. Quienes son René y Tasmania? Semana, October 9, 2008, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=106789 (accessed August 4, 2008) . 390 ¿Qué Hay Tras la Denuncia de Palacio Contra Investigador de la Corte? El Tiempo, October 9, 2007, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-2684362 (accessed 23 July 2008). 391 Hermano del Presidente Llevó la Razón de Tasmania a Palacio, El Tiempo, October 14, 2008, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-2690503 (accessed July 23, 2008). 392 Uribe Contra el Mundo, Semana, October 13, 2008, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?idArt=106879 (accessed July 23, 2008). 393 La Corte Suprema le dice al Presidente Uribe que no hay complot y exige respeto a su trabajo, Semana, October 9, 2007, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=106796 (accessed July 23, 2008). 394 La Corte Suprema le dice al Presidente Uribe que no hay complot y exige respeto a su trabajo, Semana, October 9, 2007, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=106796 (accessed July 23, 2008). 395 Magistrado Tiene Grabación en la que Ex Paramilitar Tasmania Se Retracta, El Tiempo, June 19, 2008, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-2980689 (accessed July 24 2008). Hermano del Presidente Llevó la Razón de Tasmania a Palacio, El Tiempo, October 14, 2008, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-2690503 (accessed July 23, 2008). El Montaje, Semana, June 21, 2008, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=112878 (accessed July 23, 2008). In a media interview, Justice Velásquez has since reported that González has an office in the same building where Mario Uribe has his office in Medellín; also, that El Tuso Sierra is related to Mario Uribes wife, and that Sierras aunt is Mario Uribes sister-in-law. Cecilia Orozco, La Fiscalía se quedó a mitad de camino, interview with Iván Velásquez, El Espectador, August 9, 2008, http://www.elespectador.com/impreso/articuloimpreso-fiscalia-se-quedo-mitad-de-camino?page=1 (accessed September 25, 2008). 396 El Montaje, Semana, June 21, 2008, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=112878 (accessed July 23, 2008). 397 Daniel Coronell, El Boomerang de Tasmania, Semana, June 28, 2008, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=113138 (accessed July 23, 2008). 398 Cronología de una Retractación, El Espectador, July 12, 2008, http://www.elespectador.com/impreso/politica/articuloimpreso-cronologia-de-una-retractacion (viewed on July 22, 2008); Cecilia Orozco, La Fiscalía se quedó a mitad de camino, interview with Iván Velásquez, El Espectador, August 9, 2008, http://www.elespectador.com/impreso/articuloimpreso-fiscalia-se-quedo-mitad-de-camino?page=1 (accessed September 25, 2008). 399 Fiscalía Cierra Caso Contra Magistrado Iván Velásquez Por Señalamientos De Tasmania, El Tiempo, August 1, 2008, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-3037467 (accessed September 25, 2008).
400 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Attorney General of Colombia Mario Iguarán, August 15, 2008. 401 Presidente de la Corte Suprema alista su defense contra Uribe, El Espectador, January 28, 2008, http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/judicial/articulo-presidente-de-corte-suprema-alista-su-defensa-contra-uribe (accessed August 4, 2008) 402 El Presidente Confundió Mi Cortesía con Mis Deberes, El Espectador, January 14, 2008, http://www.elespectador.com/impreso/cuadernilloa/actualidad/articuloimpreso-el-presidente-confundio-mi-cortesia-mis-deberes (accessed July 23, 2008). 403 Alvaro Uribe denunciará por injuria al presidente de la Corte Suprema, Cesar Julio Valencia, El Tiempo, January 18, 2008, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-3924893 (accessed July 24, 2008). 404 Sin Torcer el Brazo, Semana, April 29, 2008, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=111437 (accessed July 24, 2008). 405 Colombian Supreme Court, Criminal Chamber, Sentence in Case No. 22453 against Yidis Medina Padilla, Bogotá, June 26, 2008. 406 Ibid. Procuraduría Investiga a Posibles Cómplices de Cohecho, Semana, May 15, 2008, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=111839 (accessed July 23, 2008). Tres Años y Medio de Condena a Yidis Medina, Semana, June 25, 2008, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=112830 (accessed July 22, 2008). 407 Procuraduría Abre Pliego de Cargos Contra Ministros Implicados en Yidispolitica, Semana, June 27, 2008, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?idArt=113065 (accessed July 24, 2008). 408 Uribe Increpa a Magistrados de la Corte por Supuesta Negligencia, El Espectador, June 27, 2008, http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/politica/articulo-uribe-increpa-magistrado-de-corte-supuesta-negligencia (accessed July 22, 2008). 409 Presentan dos denuncians contra magistrados de la Sala Penal de la Corte Supreme de Justicia, El Tiempo, June 27, 2008, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-4350867 (accessed August 4, 2008). 410 El Complot de los Paras, Semana, August 23, 2008, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=114756 (accessed September 24, 2008). 411 Ibid. 412 El Coletazo, Semana, August 30, 2008, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=114954 (accessed September 24, 2008). 413 Ibid. 414 Human Rights Watch interviews with officials who requested that their names be withheld, September 2008. 415 Presidency of the Republic of Colombia, Press Statement No. 164, September 14, 2008, http://web.presidencia.gov.co/comunicados/2008/septiembre/164.html (accessed September 24, 2008). Semana reports that it obtained recordings of multiple phone conversations between Job and Chaux that, according to the magazine, show that after the meeting Job became a sort of advisor of the diplomat in the investigation that the Attorney Generals office is conducting against him for supposed links to former paramilitary commander Ever Velosa, alias HH. See Job y el Embajador, Semana, September 13, 2008, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=115482 (accessed September 24, 2008). In one of the recordings, Chaux reportedly mentions that he did meet once with HHa fact that Chaux had previously denied. Chaux has since resigned from his post as ambassador. 416 La Ultima Carta de Job, Semana, August 2, 2008, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=114145 (accessed September 24, 2008). 417 Supreme Court of Colombia, full chamber, Press Statement, August 14, 2008, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?idArt=114499 (accessed August 15, 2008). Translated to English by Human Rights Watch. 418 La estrategia de Palacio, Semana, September 6, 2008, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=115254 (accessed September 24, 2008). 419 Martha Elvira Soto and Jhon Jairo Torres, En renunciar está pensando Iván Velásquez, magistrado 'estrella' de la parapolítica, El Tiempo, August 10, 2008, http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/justicia/2008-08-10/en-renunciar-esta-pensando-ivan-velasquez-magistrado-estrella-de-la-parapolitica_4437692-1 (accessed August 10, 2008). 420 Human Rights Watch interviews with sources who requested that their names be withheld, Bogotá, September 2008. 421 Cecilia Orozco, La Fiscalía se quedó a mitad de camino, interview with Iván Velásquez, El Espectador, August 9, 2008, http://www.elespectador.com/impreso/articuloimpreso-fiscalia-se-quedo-mitad-de-camino?page=1 (accessed September 25, 2008). 422 Como se juega el ajedrez de la Reforma Política, Semana, June 2, 2008, http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?idArt=112009 (accessed June 13, 2008). 423 Draft bills and explanations, http://www.ginaparody.com/temas/senado/proyectos/curules_paras.htm (accessed August 28, 2008). 424 La ruta de la expansión paramilitar y la transformación política de Antioquia, 1997 a 2007, Claudia López, in Parapolítica La Ruta de la Expansión Paramilitar y Los Acuerdos Políticos, Ed. Corporación Nuevo Arco Iris, Intermedio, Bogotá, 2007, pp. 226-232. 425The Constitution provides that absolute or temporary absences of members of Congress shall be covered by the next candidate on their political partys list. Constitution of Colombia of 1991, Article 134. 426 Y después de la silla vacía, ¿qué? El Tiempo, June 1, 2008. 427 Email message from Claudia López to Human Rights Watch, August 26, 2008. 428 Más días de agonía para la reforma política, El Espectador, June5, 2008, http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/politica/articulo-mas-dias-de-agonia-reforma-politica (accessed July 23, 2008). 429 De la sinceridad al cinismo, El Tiempo, June 3, 2008. 430 Pelea por Inhabilidades, El Espectador, May 28, 2008, http://www.elespectador.com/impreso/politica/articuloimpreso-pelea-inhabilidades (accessed August 4, 2008). 431 Ministry of Interior and Justice, Chamber of Deputies Hill No. 106, August 26, 2008, arts. 10, 21. Buscan solución a los impedimentos para sacar adelante la reformas política y a la Justicia, El Tiempo, August 13, 2008, http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/politica/2008-08-13/buscan-solucion-a-los-impedimentos-para-sacar-adelante-la-reformas-politica-y-a-la-justicia_4442813-1 (accessed August 13, 2008). 432 Human Rights Watch interview with Colombian Minister of Interior and Justice, Fabio Valencia Cossio, Bogotá, September 8, 2008. 433Senate Bill 07/2008, presented by the Minister of Interior and Justice, August 26, 2008, Art. 7. Ministry of Interior and Justice of the Republic of Colombia, Exposición de Motivos al Proyecto de Acto Legislativo por el cual se reforman unos artículos de la Constitución Política de Colombia y se dictan otras disposiciones, August 26, 2008, pp. 29-30. 435 Human Rights Watch interview with Colombian Minister of Interior and Justice Fabio Valencia Cossio, Bogota, September 8, 2008. 436 Constitutional Court of Colombia, Press Release No. 25: Ruling C-545/08, May 28, 2008. 437 Human Rights Watch interview with Colombian Minister of Interior and Justice Fabio Valencia Cossio, Bogota, September 8, 2008. 438 Ibid. 439 Human Rights Watch interviews with constitutional experts (names withheld), September 2008. |