DAS wiretapping scandal (Colombia's intelligence agency)

[Judi Lynn]

DAS wiretapping scandal
Posted on Feb 24 2014 - 3:43pm by Rico

Main wiretapping targets

Politicians

•Gustavo Petro (then-Senator for Demoratic Pole)
•Carlos Gaviria (then-Democratic Pole leader)
•Luis Eduardo Garzón (then-Green Party leader)
•Ernesto Samper (former president)
•Andres Pastrana (former president)
•Piedad Cordoba (then-senator)

Supreme Court

•Ivan Velasquez (assistant judge)
•Cesar Julio Valencia (chief justice)
•Yesid Ramírez (former judge)

Human Rights defenders, NGOs

•The José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective
•CODHES
•San Jose de Apartado Peace Community
•UNHCR
•Human Rights Watch
•Washington Office on Latin America
•International Federation on Human Rights

Journalists

•Hollman Morris
•Daniel Coronell
•Claudia Julieta Duque

The DAS wiretapping scandal unfolded in 2008 after opposition politicians, media and authorities discovered that Colombia’s now-defunct intelligence agency, the DAS, had been spying on the Supreme Court, journalists, human rights defenders and politicians. Later dubbed the “Colombian Watergate” scandal, it sparked a worldwide outrage as it not only implicated the Colombian president as the alleged force behind the illegal surveillance but also drew ties to the US — a close ally and financial contributor to Colombia.

The DAS illegal wiretapping methods first surfaced in 2008 after then-Senator Gustavo Petro, received intelligence documents proving he had been shadowed and wiretapped.

The scandal almost immediately cost the head of DAS director Maria del Pilar Hurtado who, in spite of initially denying her agency had been involved with illegal activities, was forced to leave her post. Del Pilar later fled to Panama where she received political asylum months before the Supreme Court ordered an arrest warrant. But this was just the beginning of an unfolding scandal that uncovered a boundless conspiracy that did not just target politicians, but even more controversially, the Supreme Court, Colombian and foreign human rights organizations, and journalists.

In February 2009, weekly Semana revealed that the DAS was the main force behind a dark industry that served paramilitaries, guerrillas and corrupt political forces. The investigations unveiled a comprehensive and extensive surveillance and interception campaign that had been targeting the Supreme Court in order to discredit the country’s institution that was investigating links between paramilitaries and politicians, the majority being political allies of President Alvaro Uribe.

The beginning: Uribe appoints DAS executive with paramilitary ties

The DAS was founded in the 1960 to provide strategic intelligence, criminal investigations, control the external and internal security of the nation and served as Interpol’s liaison in Colombia and was a contact for the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). With close to 6,500 members, the agency reported directly to the President’s Office.

More: http://todaycolombia.com/2014/02/das-wiretapping-scandal/#sthash.8AbRK7kc.dpuf