Cablegate: President Uribe Backs Courts--And Provides
VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB
DE RUEHBO #1401 3551915
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211915Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1493
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 7328
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 8539
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 4601
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA PRIORITY 9845
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 5259
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS BOGOTA 011401
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KJUS PHUM PINR PINS PREF PREL CO
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT URIBE BACKS COURTS--AND PROVIDES
RESOURCES--IN PARAMILITARY-POLITICAL INVESTIGATIONS
REF: BOGOTA 10976 AND PREVIOUS
President Backs Courts--and Provides Resources
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1. On December 20, at President Uribe's initiative, he and
leaders from the Colombian Judicial branch agreed to create a
special investigative unit within the Supreme Court to
investigate political connections to ex-paramilitaries, and
other allegations against government officials. Uribe
promised to provide 18 assistants and investigators to the
Court's penal division charged with judging members of
Congress and other public officials. Three Congressmen have
been indicted for paramilitary connections, six more have
been called before the court to testify, and more cases are
expected (reftel). The Court has 150 investigations underway
involving members of government or Congress. Judicial
officials tell us this will give them an important tool to
move ahead on the most important investigations.
GoC Wants Story Out
===================
2. President Uribe wants to get to the truth about the
paramilitary-political scandal and other cases of official
misconduct. His initiative to provide the court with an
independent--and unprecedented--investigative unit to augment
existing investigatory assets in the executive branch is more
proof that the president fully supports the institutions
responsible for finding, and acting on, the truth.
WOOD
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