FIDH and CAJAR, victims of wiretapping? Rejection of illegal intelligence actions by the National Army

Paris, Bogotá, 16 January 2020.- In recent days a scandal broke out after a Semana Magazine report (ES) on the illegal use of sophisticated equipment to spy on politicians, magistrates, Generals and journalists (ES) , bought in an irregular manner, as well as human rights defenders and “Lawyers’ collectives”. There are indications that FIDH and CAJAR have been the target of this new criminal structure within the National Army.

According to the magazine, folders containing information on the personal conversations of all these actors were given to "a well-known politician from the Democratic Center [Party]." According to the evidence and more than 12 direct testimonies, this also involved illegal intelligence work and the monitoring of communications by Magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, who have been in charge of the investigations against former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez for witness tampering and other According to the press, this scandal would explain the resignation of G.(r) Nicacio Martínez on 27 December 2019.

The term "Lawyers’ Collectives", added to the fact that Reinaldo Villalba Vargas, current Vice-President of FIDH and President of CAJAR, is the lawyer representing Senator Iván Cepeda Castro, victim in the case against former President Uribe Vélez.

It should also be considered that CAJAR, together with FIDH, is currently working on the documentation before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) concerning the implication of G.(r) Nicacio Martínez in extrajudicial executions (in the form known as "false positives") committed under his command, between 30 October 2004 and 23 January 2006.

“It is unacceptable for events of this nature to occur with impunity. We request that the President of the Republic and the Attorney General of the Nation provide concrete and transparent information on the identification of the victims of these criminal activities, so that they can exercise their right of access to justice, so that the truth and responsibilities can be clarified, and so that effective measures can be taken to ensure that these serious human rights violations are not repeated."

stated Reinaldo Villalba, Vice President of FIDH and President of CAJAR

It is important to remember that, in the past, CAJAR and FIDH CAJAR and FIDH were the target of illegal intelligence work consisting of interceptions, harassment, monitoring, threats, and assemblies, among others, by the former intelligence agency attached to the Presidency of the Republic, the Administrative Department of Security - DAS.

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