Drugs & international Crime Department

King Charles Street

London

SW1A 2AH

Tel: 0207 008 1816

E-mail: [email address]

17 April 2009

Mr Liam Craig-Best

By email:

[FOI #7380 email]

Dear Mr Craig-Best,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST: 0084-09

I write in relation to your Freedom of Information Act request dated 30^th January 2009 where you asked;

`'The value of counter-narcotics assistance provided by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to Colombia each year since 2002.''

I can confirm the Foreign and Commonwealth Office does hold information relevant to your request. This letter serves as a refusal notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act).

In regard to the information that you have requested, we are withholding the information under Section 27(1)(a)(b) (International Relations) and Section 31 (1) (a) (b) (c) (Law Enforcement). As the exemptions applied are qualified exemptions, and in order to support our decision, we have undertaken a Public Interest Test.

Section 27(1)(a) (b) of the FOIA recognises the need to protect information that would be likely to prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and other states and International Organisation if it was disclosed. In this case the state being Colombia and the Colombia policing authorities.

The application of s.27(1)(a) and (b) requires us to consider the public interest test arguments in favour of releasing and withholding the information. We acknowledge that releasing information on this issue would increase public knowledge about our relations with Colombia. But s.27(1)(a) and (b) recognises that the effective conduct of international relations depends upon maintaining trust and confidence between governments. If the United Kingdom does not maintain this trust and confidence, its ability to protect and promote UK interests through international relations will be hampered, which will not be in the public interest. The disclosure of information detailing our relationship with the Colombian government could potentially damage the bilateral relationship between the UK and Colombia. This would reduce the UK government's ability to protect and promote UK interests through its relations with Colombia, which would not be in the public interest.

There is also a strong public interest in Colombia and matters relating to our relations, as well as work on counter narcotics (CN) and its relationship to the on-going civil conflict within the country. This interest is demonstrated by the interest and activities of various non governmental organisations as well as questions raised in Parliament. We also acknowledge the interest in the UK's counter narcotics policies towards Colombia and broader human rights interests and concerns. Whilst we accept the genuine public interest in the subject of UK counter narcotics assistance to Colombia we considered that the release of this information is likely to prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and Colombia through impairing confidential communications and by causing the withdrawal or reduction of effectiveness of UK support. We therefore conclude that the public interest in disclosure is outweighed by the harm that is likely to be caused by making these details available. This decision has previously been upheld by the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

Further more, some of the information has been withheld under Section 31 (1) (a) (b) and (c) of the Act, because disclosure would likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime, the apprehension and/or prosecution of offenders or the administration of justice. This is because the information you request relates to law enforcement. The Section 31 exemption is designed to cover all aspects of the law enforcement. Maintaining confidence in law enforcement and the criminal justice system is crucial to the public interest. The FCO accepts that there is widespread interest in the UK's counter narcotics policy and that it is wholly appropriate in many cases for the public to understand how, why and what key decisions are taken in these areas. Balanced against this we recognise that if the UK were to publish information on the value of counter-narcotics assistance provided to Colombia this could weaken current operations/investigations. We believe there is a strong need to protect the work of law enforcement officers, which would impact on the fight to eradicate drug trafficking organisations. In reaching our decision, we refer to the previously mentioned precedent set in 2005 where the Parliamentary Ombudsman upheld the decision of this Department to withhold details relating to counter-narcotics activity in Colombia. For these reasons, the public interest in withholding this information outweighs the public interest in discloser.

The FCO can neither confirm nor deny whether the above information represents all the information held that would meet the terms of your request, as the duty to comply with section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not apply by virtue of sections 23(5) and 24(2).

In so far as section 24(2) applies, the FCO has determined that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exclusion of the duty to confirm or deny outweighs the public interest in confirming whether or not the information is held. The reason this exemption applies is that in relation to any individual who has been the subject of allegations or suspicions involving terrorism the FCO may hold or make reference to information supplied by the security bodies covered by section 23 of the Act. To confirm or deny whether this was in fact the case would harm national security. If we were to confirm or deny that that information existed in one case, inferences, whether correct or not, might be drawn in those instances where we were unable to do so, which would have similar harmful effects. It is important that consistency is maintained. For those reasons, we consider that in this case the public interest favours neither confirming nor denying whether further information is held. This is in line with usual practice in not commenting on the existence of reporting from the security and intelligence agencies and should not be taken as evidence that any such information does or does not exist.

If you are unhappy with the way the FCO has handled your request, you may ask for an internal review. You should contact me at the address above if you wish to complain. You have 40 working days to do so from the date our response.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours faithfully

Phil Wyithe

Desk Officer (Western Hemisphere)

Drugs & international Crime Department

2

Foreign &

Commonwealth

Office