COMPREHENSIVE SECURITY AND DEFENSE POLICY FOR

Executive Summary
COMPREHENSIVE SECURITY AND DEFENSE
POLICY FOR PROSPERITY
Executive Summary
A
ttaining optimal security conditions in order to guarantee
democratic prosperity and national progress is one of the
primary objectives of the government of President Juan
Manuel Santos.
Based on the key role played by security in fulfilling this objective, the
defense and security sector designed the Comprehensive Security
and Defense Policy for Prosperity, with the basic goal of establishing
security conditions that will act as an engine for prosperity and will
further consolidate the security won so far, to bring peace, progress,
development, and well-being to the country.
A new vision of current threats and their characteristics, together
with an assessment of the real situation of security and defense,
were the main inputs for the strategies developed in the framework
of this policy.
Under the policy’s strategic vision, the Military Forces and the
National Police will apply their efforts with differentiation, taking into
account the specific characteristics of each zone.
1
Executive Summary
In zones classified as red, or where security situations are critical,
the objective is to end the violence. In yellow zones the objective is
to create the proper conditions for democratic governability, while
in green or consolidated zones, the goal is to put optimum security
conditions in place in order to promote prosperity.
The defense sector is determined that by the conclusion of this
administration there will be no more red zones in the national territory
or areas where security indicators or crime rates are critical. It will
turn red zones into yellow, and transform yellow zones into green.
With a combination of efforts enriched by intelligence, integrated
action, sustained operations, and strong institutions, the defense
sector will thoroughly root out illegal organizations, identifying and
cutting off their legal and illegal sources of financing, dismantling
their logistical supply networks, and neutralizing outside support.
The Comprehensive Security and Defense
Policy for Prosperity Establishes Concrete
Results and Clear Goals.
The commitments of the Military Forces and Police in this new stage
are:
1. To reduce narcotics production to a historic low.
2. To dismantle illegal groups and create the security conditions
needed for consolidation.
3. To create the security conditions citizens need in order to live in
peaceful coexistence.
4. To advance toward a system of credible, integrated, and
interoperable dissuasive capacity.
5. To contribute timely response to natural disasters and
catastrophes.
6. To strengthen the institutionality and well-being of the defense
and security sector.
2
Executive Summary
1.
Reduce narcotics production to a historic
low.
The strategies in this area will make the drug trafficking business in
Colombia inviable.
The Counternarcotics Department of the Colombian National Police
will control eradication with support from the Army, increasing
manual eradication and aerial spraying efforts. It will attack replanting head on and will increase the presence of mobile eradication
squads in the most critical growing zones.
At the same time, it will intensify the intelligence dedicated to
dismantling drug trafficking organizations and all links in the logistics
and finances support chain.
The fight against drug trafficking
cannot be separated from the
fight against the organized crime
that is fed by the export and
micro-trafficking of narcotics.
Therefore,
intelligence
and
specialized police actions will be
dedicated to dismantling these
organized
criminal
groups,
referred to as BACRIM. The defense and security sector will work
with determination to shut down these organizations, so that by the
end of this administration they will no longer represent a threat to
security.
2.
Dismantle illegal groups and create
the security conditions needed for
consolidation.
One of the emphases of the Comprehensive Policy for Security and
Defense for Prosperity is the definitive disarticulation of the structures
of illegal groups.
3
Executive Summary
The government will implement the Integrated System for Border
Administration, Control, and Security to guarantee the irreversibility
of the achievements of recent years, to protect the border, and to
combat transnational crime.
It will execute a strategic plan for
integrated action to protect the
people who live in zones where the
degree of deterioration in security
conditions is greater, and prepare
them for the arrival of all the state’s
institutions.
3.
Create the security conditions citizens
need in order to live in peaceful
coexistence.
Under the scenario produced by the new security situation, the
defense and security sector must be able to quickly adapt to what
citizens require to be able to enjoy their rights and freedoms. With
that flexibility in mind, the National Police will attack the most
critical dynamics affecting citizen security and will promote peaceful
coexistence in order to improve the quality of life of Colombians.
Technology, criminal investigation, and intelligence are key words
for police action in favor of the public.
The National Police will focus on making a significant reduction
in the homicide rate. They will also reduce the number of cases
of aggravated theft, personal injury, extortion, micro-extortion,
kidnapping, and land piracy.
To do this, the Ministry of Defense will strengthen police control
across the entire national territory, massify security programs by
quadrants and networks, and engage in integrated intervention and
frontal attack on criminal structures.
In all cases citizen denouncements and cooperation are key factors
to success.
4
Executive Summary
4.
Advance toward a system of credible,
integrated, and interoperable dissuasive
capacity.
The Military Forces will continue with their process to strengthen
their capabilities.
A diplomacy for security program will be organized to maximize the
effectiveness of the fight against transnational crime. The defense
and security sector will also develop new bi-national security plans.
Colombia will gain further ground in its new role as a provider
of cooperation in the area of defense and security, increasing the
assistance it provides at the regional and international level based on
the country’s successful experiences.
In addition, it will put in motion a strategy and a policy against
cybercrime and cyberterrorism.
5.
Contribute to a timely response
natural disasters and catastrophes.
to
The role of the Military Forces and Police in disaster response is crucial
for the country. Therefore the Ministry
of Defense will create an entity and
design a policy to make actions in this
area more strategic and coordinated,
with clearly defined responsibilities for
the tasks of humanitarian assistance,
rehabilitation, and reconstruction.
6.
Strengthen the institutionality and wellbeing of the defense and security sector.
The goal is to continue the sector’s modernization process and review
its structure to adapt it to the needs of today and the challenges of
the future.
5
Executive Summary
New tools will make expenditure
sustainable and promote science,
technology,
and
innovation
projects that will seek, among
other things, to substitute imports
and make the defense sector an
engine for innovation.
The Defense Sector Business
Group (GSED) will improve its
strategic capabilities, making it more competitive.
The processes will continue to modernize the Military Criminal Justice
system and implement the accusatory criminal justice system.
This administration is always concerned for the well-being of force
members. The motivation and morale of the troops and continuous
improvement of their living conditions and intellectual capacities are
priorities of the strategy.
Housing, education, health, and recreation will be promoted
vigorously in favor of all the men and women who risk their lives
daily for the well-being of all Colombians.
The legal defense of members of the Military Forces and Police has a
key role in the well-being of the troops and the Ministry of Defense
is committed to it.
The Ministry will establish a Comprehensive Defense Service to
safeguard the basic rights of all of its members to due process. It
will facilitate timely, free, specialized, and continuous access to a
proper defense for both criminal and disciplinary matters.
The success of the Comprehensive Security and Defense Policy
for Prosperity depends on the effective application of the 6 pillars
supporting it:
6
Executive Summary
• Substantial improvements to intelligence based on an operationally
structured and strengthened intelligence system.
• Strengthened command and control, making a quantitative and
qualitative leap in the way operations are planned and conducted.
• Increased coordination and integration to be more effective and
to reach goals.
• Strategic protection of the people: in order to build peace the
Military Forces and Police must not only guarantee territorial
control and the defeat of illegal groups, but must also continue
to win the confidence and the heart of Colombians.
• Strategic application of force: The Military Forces and Police
will develop operations based on five directives - massify, focus,
surprise, differentiate, and define - in order to meet the challenges
presented by illegal armed groups and organized crime.
• Respect for human rights and International Humanitarian Law:
rigorous adherence to the law and superior ethical conduct are
expected from all members of the Military Forces and Police.
They will be recognized as the principle defenders of human
rights in Colombia.
We all play a vital role in
achieving these objectives.
Peacebuilding requires a joint,
coordinated, and sustained effort
by the state with the dedicated
participation of all Colombians.
7
Executive Summary
“Strengthening security to advance towards prosperity”
Libertad y Orden
www.mindefensa.gov.co
8