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Colombia counter-narcotics assistance

Kevin made this Freedom of Information request to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

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Dear Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office,

In this FOI response (https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/m...), you said the following:
Our embassy in Bogota keeps a record of Colombian security force personnel who
receive UK training, whether in counter-narcotics, human rights or humanitarian
demining, in case information emerged to suggest that they subsequently become
involved in human rights abuses. No such information has emerged to date.
Disclosing the details of the record held by our Embassy could endanger the lives of
those involved.

This was in 2009, and UK counter-narcotics assistance to Colombia has long since ended, and will therefore no longer "endanger the lives of those involved".

As such, please send me the "record of Colombian security forces" who received UK "counter-narcotics" training. That should include names of individual Colombian officials and Colombian military and police units.

Please send me these details for the years 1997-2009. If the scope of this request is too broad, please break it down into four separate FOI requests, for the years:
1997-2001
2002-2005
2006-2009

Yours faithfully,
Kevin McEvoy

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Dear Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office,

Please follow up on this. I haven't received a FOI code or any confirmation of receipt.

Yours faithfully,

Kevin

Dear Kevin,

Could you please resubmit your original request as a reply to this email we would be grateful, as we can't seem to identify / locate your original request within the chain below.

Kind regards,

show quoted sections

Dear Information Rights (Sensitive),

Dear Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office,

This was in 2009 and will no longer "endanger the lives of those involved".

As such, please send:
- the "record of Colombian security forces" who received UK "counter-narcotics" training. That should include names of individual Colombian officials and/or Colombian military and police units;
- a detailed description of each package/instance of counter-narcotics assistance delivered to Colombia;
- cost breakdown per year of counter-narcotics assistance delivered to Colombia.

Please send me these details for the years 1997-2009. If the scope of this request is too broad, please break it down into three separate FOI requests, for the years:
1997-2001
2002-2005
2006-2009

Yours faithfully,
Kevin McEvoy

Dear Kevin McEvoy

Thank you for your email to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(FCDO) requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Can you please confirm that we have understood the wording of your request
correctly to be:

“Please send:
1- the "record of Colombian security forces" who received UK
"counter-narcotics" training. That should include names of individual
Colombian officials and/or Colombian military and police units;

2- a detailed description of each package/instance of counter-narcotics
assistance delivered to Colombia;

3- cost breakdown per year of counter-narcotics assistance delivered to
Colombia.

Please send me these details for the years 1997-2009. If the scope of this
request is too broad, please break it down into three separate FOI
requests, for the years:

1997-2001

2002-2005

2006-2009”

If so, as currently framed, your FOI would exceed the appropriate cost
limit for an FOI (Section 12). In order for us to be able to assist you
with your request and best direct any search please could you
clarify/refine the scope of your request.

Would it be possible for you to limit your request to one of the three
parts of your FOI and also narrow the timeframe?

Once we receive your revised request we will consider it and the
appropriate course of action.

Yours sincerely

Information Rights Unit

show quoted sections

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