Itinerancy, strengthening of investigations, and coordination: the three guiding principles of a Prosecutor´s Office  in the territories

The Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa, presented a report to the Supreme Court of Justice on his first year in office with important results in the clarification of multiple murders and crimes against human rights defenders; fight against crime, and institutional strengthening.

The Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, held a meeting at the Supreme Court of Justice in order to present the report on his first year in office.

The Attorney General, true to the commitments he made when he was elected, presented the achievements to the High Court in each of the axes that he prioritized to strengthen the Prosecutor’s Office judicial and investigative capacity and to increase its institutional presence.

The Attorney General pointed out before the magistrates, that the first great advance in this year has been visiting the territories and have a clear diagnosis of the functioning and deficiencies in the regions. Thus, prompt, and effective solutions have been defined to facilitate access to justice and meet citizens’ needs.

Moreover, he explained that 85 visits to different parts of the country helped to consolidate the three governing principles that substantiate the Office of the Attorney Generals’ work:  Itinerancy, strengthening of investigations, and coordination.

“If criminals were moving, the Prosecutor’s Office had to move. We could not think only in terms of closed powers or jurisdictions when criminals were crossing the country through regional crime corridors without any problem”, stated the Attorney General Barbosa Delgado.

This means that prosecutors or investigators travel to the places where the criminal actions occur to protect the evidence and have a clear vision of what happened. This has made it possible to integrate the capacities of different offices at the central or sectional level to act on different fronts in a complementary manner and it has facilitated the joint work with the Judicial Branch, the public force and its operative groups or judicial police, and other entities.

“We managed to dissuade the dynamics of violence that was taking place in some territories of the country. It is due to the concrete implementation of the principle of prevention and we can say, due to the prompt action of the Prosecutor’s Office that goes beyond bringing charges and requesting measures and obtains sentences” stated the Attorney General

One year of results

In his presentation to the Supreme Court of Justice, the Attorney General pointed out that the policy of the recent year has been showing results. That is, to give citizens real answers, with arrests and accusations related to cases that impact their daily lives.

“A result is not an issuance of an arrest warrant. I have been insisting in the different sectional offices of the country on not celebrating the issuance of arrest warrants. Celebrating arrest warrants, in judicial terms, is like if one in football were celebrating throw-ins. What we have to do is to carry out the arrests and, at the same time, to bring those people before a judge to achieve preventive measures when needed”, emphasized the Attorney General.

In that sense, he mentioned the main results. It should be outlined the investigative progress of 71.50% in multiple murders, progress of 65.35% in the clarification of crimes against human defenders, more than 10 points above the average received in February 2020; and an advance of 95.26% in the clarification of femicides.

Likewise, he spoke about the achievements obtained through criminal prosecution by blocking the corridors of illegality in specific territories and points of the country. This strategy allowed the arrest of 2,117 alleged members of organized crime structures such as ELN, dissidents and ‘Clan del Golfo’, among others; and the prosecution of 9,813 people who would be part of criminal groups; and seizing more than 373 tons of narcotics.

The Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, assured that, in his first year of office, he launched the ‘Argenta’ strategy that seeks to reinforce the fight against crime by affecting the illicit assets of these organizations. This initiative includes investigative activities to seize assets and detect money laundering operations.

“The criminal proceedings will not be carried out anymore on one side and then, seizure of assets processes on the other. We are in a ‘mirror’ processes, it means criminal proceeding is carried out and at the same time, we will go with prosecutors to seize assets in real time, therefore, when we give a hard blow, we also impact finances and seize the assets, “explained the Attorney General.

Finally, he gave details of the way in which he reorganized the Odebrecht case with the creation of a Special Task Force. This was an issue in which the Supreme Court of Justice showed interest when the then aspiring people to be Attorney General were interviewed.

“We immediately assigned 15 prosecutors, supported by CTI and analysts, and judicial cooperation with the United States, Brazil and Peru; and we have already started to generate results, principles of opportunity and several have been signed, especially in subcontracts”, stated the prosecutor Barbosa Delgado.

At the end of the presentation, he spoke about the results in the fight against corruption and the challenges that are approaching due to the pre-electoral period. In this sense, he announced that a team will move forward on various investigations in this regard.

“This year we will have a very important action on politics in Colombia, especially in the pre-electoral year. Some issues are developing to move forward in these investigations and there is an elite group that is assigned. Hopefully, in the month of October or November, we will have some important results”, he concluded.

The 22 magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, who were 12 in person and 10 online, received the presentation of the report very positively and made favorable comments about the balance presented by the Attorney General Francisco Barbosa.

When we speak, results follow.

The information contained in this press release corresponds to the narration of the objective news provided by the officials in charge of carrying out the criminal investigations within the Office of the Attorney General. By the time this communication is disclosed, the legal status of the people mentioned is still pending to be resolved by the competent judicial authority, always under the presumption of innocence contemplated by Article 29 of the Political Constitution and Article 7 of Law 906 of 2004.