memorandum of justification concerning human ... - Just the Facts

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13. Establish a human rights certification system for all officers seeking promotion to
Lieutenant Colonel or Brigadier General, based on a rigorous review of their
records;
14. Strengthen the legal accompaniment of operations by the Prosecutor General‘s
Office and the Technical Investigation Unit (CTI), in accordance with Directives
10 and 19 of 2007; and
15. Establish, down to the tactical level, a human rights complaint reception system,
and create a system of public and periodic accountability, ensuring an open
dialogue with civil society.
The Colombian government reports that, through the implementation of new
training, oversight, and reporting structures, the Ministry of Defense has made progress
on these 15 measures. A detailed description of progress on these 15 measures is located
in Annex H. Highlights of progress include:
On December 15, 2008, General Padilla announced the creation of the Armed
Forces School for Human Rights, which opened in May 2009 in Tolemaida
(Cundinamarca). The school will not only provide instruction in human rights
to 99,780 soldiers, it will also house an interactive database called Compartel
(communication structure for isolated populations) that civil society can use to
present complaints of alleged violations of human rights.
In May 2009, with the ICRC, the Armed Forces carried out workshops with the
Second and Seventh Divisions on lessons learned from past human rights
violations. Case studies provided the Divisions with models for how to respect
human rights and international humanitarian law when carrying out their duties.
The Army created a new Human Rights Department, under the command of a
brigadier general and comprised of six directorates headed up by colonels. This
department is in charge of the implementation of the Army‘s Comprehensive
Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Policy and serves as the
collection point and clearing house for reports of allegations of human rights
violations by military officials.
The Ministry of Defense created the position of Operational Legal Advisor
(AJO) to give commanders legal advice on the planning, follow-up, and control
of operations from a human rights and international humanitarian law
perspective. In February 2008, the Ministry of Defense created the Office of
Doctrine and Legal Advice (ODA), which offers legal advice to all
commanders on the ground, and develops operational legal doctrine that ensures
human rights and international humanitarian law obligations are met during the
execution of military operations. The Armed Forces has increased the number
of active AJOs from 54 in 2008 to 92 in 2009: 73 in the Army, 7 in the Navy,
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