Mr. President: We, the signatories of this letter, are members of the Advisory Council to the Truth Commission (CEV). We make up a group of individuals, both national and international, from different intellectual, political and social backgrounds who support the CEV’s work to consolidate peace with truth in Colombia. In carrying out our tasks, the serious concerns about bringing forth the truth made public in recent days, along with firsthand information we have received, compel us to send you this letter; which, due to the seriousness of the incidents, is an open letter.

In its effort to elucidate the reasons for the persistence of conflict, the CEV, in the exercise of its constitutional and legal powers, began the task of receiving statements from Dairo Antonio Úsuga David, alias “Otoniel”, the highest leader of the Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia criminal group. This effort was undertaken once permissions from the competent authorities were obtained. Given this, several situations raise significant concerns. On one hand, we draw attention to the detainee’s precarious detention conditions, which violate the most basic human rights that, under the rule of law, must be accorded to all members by the State, including, of course, criminals. Similarly, we were appalled by the description of very limited guarantees for investigators to listen to the defendant’s testimony privately and free of external presence and pressure.

It is clear to us that police authorities must take measures to prevent the possibility of Mr. Úsuga escaping. Yet, it is equally clear that, in accordance with Article 15 of Presidential Decree 588 of 2017, all authorities have the duty to “collaborate with the CEV for the fulfillment of its aims, mandate, and duties,” which includes the need to privately listen to statements given by those who wish to contribute their truth to the CEV and the country. It is therefore the duty of the police, whom you are constitutionally responsible for directing (Political Constitution of Colombia, Article 189), to balance security measures for Mr. Úsuga with the constitutional duty of allowing the CEV to privately interview him. We reject the conditions imposed by the police for the recent interview, which, far from offering security guarantees, appeared to show mistrust and the obstruction of the commendable and sensitive work conducted by the CEV.

Furthermore, Mr. President, two days after the problematic first session, unknown individuals broke into one of the investigator’s homes and stole computers and devices that contained the statements given to the CEV. Mr. President, this is not the first nor the only time that similar incidents have occurred to investigators or individuals testifying to the CEV.

You are aware, Mr. President, that incidents of this nature, as well as the leaking of confidential information to the media, are extremely serious. They not only put at risk the truth, but also the safety and integrity of the CEV’s members and the safety of the defendant, who has expressed his willingness to contribute to clarifying the events he knows about or is responsible for.

Mr. President, we trust that the government you lead with all due powers vested in it, has the legal and moral obligation to victims and to the world to provide guarantees for the work of the CEV and all institutions created by the Peace Accord until their mandate is complete.

Likewise, we understand that there is an extradition request for Mr. Úsuga. Colombia has international legal cooperation duties in this regard, but, in accordance with what both international1 and Colombian jurisprudence2 have established since 2009, these international duties must be harmonized with victims’ rights, and especially with their right to the truth.

Due to all the above, Mr. President, we respectfully but firmly request the following:

  • That the President, as Head of State and supreme administrative authority, in carrying out the principle of harmonious cooperation, request judicial, administrative, and oversight authorities to swiftly and rigorously conduct investigations within their purview to clarify, as soon as possible, the perpetrators behind the devices’ theft and to impose the respective sanctions in such a way as to prevent the repetition of these acts.
  • That the government order police authorities not be directly present during the CEV proceedings taking the statement from alias “Otoniel” and to allow these proceedings to be carried out respecting the privacy that is required.
  • That INPEC assigns the inmate a location of detention respectful of his rights.
  • That the government take the necessary security measures to prevent the repetition of this conduct or potentially more serious conduct in the future, taking into account that the declarant has stated to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP, for its acronym in Spanish) that, since 2007, he has had relationships of criminal conspiracy with civilians, businesspeople, former AUC members, politicians, and former and current military personnel, which indicates that very powerful individuals may be interested in preventing his statements. Therefore, special actions are required to neutralize these attempts. Among such measures, the protection of CEV investigators associated with taking these statements must be ensured.
  • That procedures leading to Dairo Antonio Úsuga David’s extradition be carried out while safeguarding the victims’ and society’s right to truth.

Accordingly, Mr. President, we formally request that you grant us an in person hearing so that we may expand on these concerns and requests and allow us to listen to your views and responses to the above.

None of this should in any way prejudice the steps that we must take with those parties interested in the independence and guarantees that surround the duties of the CEV, one of the Peace Accord’s fundamental pillars. These include the Peace Accord’s negotiators and signatories; international guarantors; the United Nations Secretary-General and Security Council; the United Nations Human Rights Council and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; the ICC; the Inter American Commission on Human Rights; and the Colombian State’s judicial authorities and oversight bodies.

Mr. President, we look forward to your availability for the requested hearing.

Sincerely,

Alcibiades Escué (Nasa Indigenous, former mayor of Toribío municipality, Cauca, and former CRIC and ACIN president); Bernardo Toro (Advisor to the Avina Foundation’s CEO); Boaventura de Sousa Santos (Professor at the University of Coimbra (Portugal), Distinguished Legal Scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison); Cecilia María Vélez (Former dean at the Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano and former Minister of Education); David Bojanini (Former president of Grupo Sura); Doris Salcedo (Sculptor); Gonzalo Sánchez (Professor Emeritus at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, former director of the National Center for Historical Memory); Gustavo Gallón (Former Associate Judge of the Constitutional Court, former Independent Expert of the UN Human Rights Council on Haiti); John Paul Lederach (Professor Emeritus, University of Notre Dame); José Antonio Ocampo (Professor at Columbia University and Chair of the United Nations Committee for Development Policy; Manuel Ramiro Muñoz (Professor and Director of the Intercultural Studies Institute, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Cali); Pastora Mira (Member of the Departmental Victims’ Committee as a subject of collective reparation); Rodrigo Uprimny (Tenured professor at the Universidad Nacional and member of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights).

Notes

1 “In the decisions regarding the application of certain procedural concepts to one person, the accusation of serious human rights violations must prevail” (Inter-American Court of Human Rights (2009), Order of July 8, 2009, Case of the Mapiripán Massacre v. Colombia).
2 “The extradition of a demobilized person to answer abroad for less serious crimes than those he or she is confessing before Colombian judges becomes a form of impunity” (Supreme Court of Justice, Criminal Appellate Division, Court Order No. 29472 of April 10, 2008, Reporting Magistrate: Yesid Ramírez Bastidas [unofficial translation]).