{"id":1270,"date":"2021-06-11T06:53:26","date_gmt":"2021-06-11T06:53:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.declassifieduk.org\/revealed-secretive-british-anti-crime-agency-spent-millions-training-colombias-repressive-police\/"},"modified":"2023-04-25T15:02:11","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T14:02:11","slug":"revealed-secretive-british-anti-crime-agency-spent-millions-training-colombias-repressive-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.declassifieduk.org\/revealed-secretive-british-anti-crime-agency-spent-millions-training-colombias-repressive-police\/","title":{"rendered":"Revealed: Secretive British anti-crime agency spent millions training Colombia\u2019s repressive police"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Colombian police crackdown on protests has left 63 people dead since May<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Crime Agency (NCA) ran \u00a3450,000 per year training programme for Colombian law enforcement from 2015-20<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The UK agency trained specialised Colombian units, which are believed to be militarised, on \u2018advanced operational practice\u2019&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>But NCA refuses to tell <em>Declassified<\/em> if any forces it trained have been active in the crackdown or if training continues<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The British government spent five years and \u00a32.3-million training \u201cspecialist cadres of police\u201d in Colombia, where dozens of protesters have been killed over the past month in a police crackdown on anti-government demonstrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The UK programme for the Colombian police, which ran until last year, included training in \u201cadvanced operational practice\u201d for what are believed to be militarised units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The training was run by the National Crime Agency (NCA), the UK\u2019s secretive law enforcement arm that operates <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk\/what-we-do\/crime-threats\/drug-trafficking\">globally<\/a> but which is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk\/contact-us\/3-freedom-of-information\">shielded<\/a> from the country\u2019s transparency laws. The NCA would not confirm to <em>Declassified<\/em> if the training programme is still operating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the beginning of May, protests which began against the government\u2019s proposed tax reform have gripped Colombia, leaving 63 people dead, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/colombia-hrw-warns-military-deployment-to-counter-protests-could-escalate-violence\/a-57716712\">according<\/a> to Human Rights Watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amnesty International has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/latest\/news\/2021\/05\/colombia-preocupan-las-denuncias-de-desapariciones-y-violencia-sexual-contra-manifestantes\/\">reported<\/a> \u201cpolice repression of mostly peaceful demonstrations\u201d in different cities across Colombia. It added that \u201cpolice have used force indiscriminately and disproportionately, and there are alarming reports of sexual violence and disappearances\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The president of Colombia, Iv\u00e1n Duque, who has been in power since 2018, represents the right-wing Democratic Centre Party (PCD) and is viewed as the chosen successor of controversial former president \u00c1lvaro Uribe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Uribe founded the PCD in 2013 as a reaction against the negotiations then taking place between the government and left-wing rebels which sought to put an end to the long-running civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The NCA programme in Colombia \u201cengaged\u201d with \u201cColombian law enforcement agencies to improve their capability\u201d, according to UK government documents seen by<em> Declassified<\/em>. The aims included \u201cspecialist cadres of police to be trained in priority areas of intervention\u201d alongside \u201ctrusted relationships formed with key units and individuals\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the NCA refused to disclose the names of these Colombian police units and individuals to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDue to operational security, we are unable to divulge any information about individuals or units\u201d, a NCA spokesperson told <em>Declassified<\/em>. This refusal also covered \u201cthe nature of the training delivered\u201d, they added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The project does not appear on the NCA <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk\/component\/finder\/search?q=colombia&amp;quot%3Blaw_enforcement_reform=&amp;quot%3B=&amp;Itemid=101&amp;Itemid=101\">website<\/a> or in any of its public documentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The British documents further note the NCA \u201csupported the training of specialised units\u201d in Colombia on \u201cadvanced operational practice\u201d alongside \u201cintelligence collection methods\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The NCA did not respond to questions about whether any of these police units have been involved in the recent protests in Colombia. \u201cThis is not a matter for the NCA\u201d, its spokesperson told <em>Declassified<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Britain has been supporting the Colombian police in at least two other projects. In a programme also running from 2015-20, the Crown Prosecution Service, the UK\u2019s public prosecution agency, provided \u201ccriminal justice advisers\u201d whose role included \u201cadvising the police\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Foreign Office project is currently working \u201cwith the [Colombian] police to pilot approaches to conflict resolution\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These programmes have all been run through the UK\u2019s cross-government <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/organisations\/conflict-stability-and-security-fund\/about\">\u00a31.3-billion<\/a> Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, which has the stated purpose of delivering \u201cactivity to tackle instability and to prevent conflicts that threaten UK interests\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, a parliamentary committee has compared it to a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/publications.parliament.uk\/pa\/jt201617\/jtselect\/jtnatsec\/208\/20806.htm#_idTextAnchor012\">slush fund<\/a>\u201d for financing projects that do not \u201cmeet the needs of UK national security\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-national-crime-agency\"><strong>The National Crime Agency<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The NCA was created in 2013 with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk\/who-we-are\/our-mission\">stated<\/a> purpose of leading \u201cthe UK\u2019s fight to cut serious and organised crime\u201d and \u201cprotecting the public by targeting and pursuing those criminals who pose the greatest risk to the UK\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It has been working for years in Colombia, although its activities are shrouded in secrecy. The only information in the public domain on its Colombian operations comes from the BBC in 2015 when its reporter was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-34963435\">embedded<\/a> with the organisation, and provided uncritical coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The BBC reporter described a raid in the early hours of the morning by a group of Colombian special forces at a cocaine-producing lab close to the border with Venezuela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe intelligence needed to find the lab and carry out the raid was gathered with help from officers of the UK\u2019s National Crime Agency (NCA) working in Colombia,\u201d the reporter noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aside from this kind of carefully calibrated media exposure, it is impossible to obtain information about NCA operations in Colombia \u2014 or anywhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last year, <em>Declassified<\/em> filed a request to the NCA under the Freedom of Information Act asking for the number of personnel it had based in Colombia. \u201cAny information from, or relating to NCA, has an absolute exemption from disclosure,\u201d the agency told us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, some clues are available as to the extent of the NCA\u2019s presence in Colombia. A job <a href=\"https:\/\/fco.tal.net\/vx\/mobile-0\/appcentre-ext\/brand-0\/candidate\/so\/pm\/4\/pl\/1\/opp\/11649-Administrative-Assistant-NCA-Bogot%C3%A1\/en-GB\">advert<\/a> for an administrator role for the agency based in the capital, Bogot\u00e1, notes the NCA team\u2019s \u201cwide spectrum of activities\u201d in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The NCA\u2019s regional manager in Bogot\u00e1 since 2020 has been <a href=\"https:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/in\/lindsey-kemp-48088053\">Lindsey Kemp<\/a>, who previously worked in the agency\u2019s cyber crime unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hasan Dodwell, director of London-based NGO Justice for Colombia, told <em>Declassified<\/em>: \u201cThe Colombian police are committing horrifying abuses in response to protests. Beating people to death, firing live ammunition into crowds, mass arbitrary arrests, and standing by as armed civilians shoot at peaceful protesters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But Dodwell said that while the current violence has gained international attention, there were similar abuses committed during protests in 2019 and 2020 with \u201calmost total impunity for the police involved\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He added: \u201cGiven this level of disregard for human rights, it is completely unacceptable that the British government is refusing to reveal information about its operations with the Colombian police. There needs to be unequivocal condemnation and an immediate suspension of any training or collaboration with units involved in abuses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe current approach from the British government is seemingly giving a green light for the abuses to continue,\u201d Dodwell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-white-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-white-background-color has-background\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-100\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-text-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/declassifieduk.enthuse.com\/supportDCUK#!\/\" style=\"border-radius:0px;background-color:#c65115\"><strong>YOU CAN SUPPORT US FROM AS LITTLE AS \u00a33 A MONTH<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-background\" style=\"background-color:#c65115;color:#c65115\"\/>\n\n\n\n<!-- Begin Constant Contact Inline Form Code -->\n<div class=\"ctct-inline-form\" data-form-id=\"7e8d5f92-6c02-49ff-a87b-67d65846f98e\"><\/div>\n<!-- End Constant Contact Inline Form Code -->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As protests in Colombia are met with deadly violence, Declassified reveals the UK\u2019s National Crime Agency trained the Colombian police in a multimillion-pound five-year programme that is shrouded in secrecy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1273,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,234],"tags":[150,133],"coauthors":[185],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.4 (Yoast SEO 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