DAS wiretap witness murdered

[Judi Lynn]

DAS wiretap witness murdered
Friday, 05 November 2010 10:28 Teresa Welsh

A former official at intelligence agency DAS, who was due to give evidence regarding illegal wiretapping carried out by the agency, was assassinated Thursday afternoon in Medellin, reports Caracol Radio.

David Antonio Ballen Garcia, a former DAS detective who left the agency three years ago, was shot by unknown gunmen on motorcycles while on his way to work, riding in a vehicle in the Patio Bonito area of El Poblado in Medellin. The driver of the vehicle and two other passengers, a woman and another former DAS employee, were injured.

Ballen Garcia appears on a list of witnesses made by the Prosecutor General's Office in the case of illegal wiretapping carried out by DAS against political opponents, journalists and human rights activists. He was allegedly about to supply key information in the case to authorities.

Investigations in the wiretapping case have reached former President Alvaro Uribe, who is currently being investigated by the Colombian House of Representatives for his potential involvement. Uribe has always denied having any knowledge of the illegal surveillance.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/12766-das-wiretapping-witness-murdered.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Colombia's DAS: Vicious security octopus acts with impunity

Colombia's DAS: Vicious security octopus acts with impunity
Written by Marion Delgado
Tuesday, February 09 2010 10:30

CARTAGENA DE INDIES, Colombia -- If you’ve ever traveled to Colombia, then you’ve met the Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS), the government’s Administrative Department for Security. When you get off the plane, DAS employees stamp your passport and, perhaps, ask why you’re visiting.

The DAS does much more than stamp passports, though. It is a powerful agency, a sort of “secret police” institution founded in 1960. Its mandate covers intelligence and counter-intelligence, domestic and international. It is also a law enforcement body whose agents have judicial police powers: they investigate crimes and can arrest and interrogate people. The DAS also provides bodyguards and security services for high government officials and others at risk.

To someone familiar with the U.S. government, the DAS is a strange beast. It combines aspects of the FBI, the CIA, and ICE. It isn't part of any cabinet ministry like Defense or Interior; it is part of the Colombian President’s office.

If you think this arrangement seems like a recipe for disaster, you’re right.

Disaster has struck with a vengeance during President Álvaro Uribe’s administration. According to recent reports in Colombia’s media and testimony from former officials, the DAS was essentially at the service of right-wing paramilitaries and major narcotraffickers between 2002 and 2005. It drew up hit lists of union members and leftists, and plotted to destabilize neighboring Venezuela.

More:
http://medialeft.net/main/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1608:colombias-das-vicious-security-octopus-acts-with-impunity&catid=28:venezuela-and-colombia&Itemid=183