Reply #2: Additional analysis of those "pristine" computers and a letter to th Financial Times

[magbana]

The following are posts made to Walter Lippmann's Cuba News list by Matt Dubuque


Interpol states Colombian Police did NOT adhere to international sta
Posted by: "Matthew Dubuque" [email protected] mdubuque
Fri May 16, 2008 7:15 pm (PDT)

Interpol's report can be referenced at:

http://tinyurl.com/58ags5

Finding 2b of Interpol's Report on FARC Computers states that after
seizure of the computers and hard drives by the Colombian government
internationally recognized principles for handling electronic
evidence by law enforcement were NOT followed.

This finding is boldfaced at the top of page 30 of the report. It
states that because of this mishandling by the Colombian government,
thousands of systems files were deleted, created and modified.

Why was this done?

Much of this report remains classified, according to footnote 19 of
the report. A compelling case can be made that the classified
portions of the report should be released.

Matt Dubuque


Interpol Never Said Captured FARC Documents Were Genuine
Posted by: "Matthew Dubuque" [email protected] mdubuque
Sat May 17, 2008 1:29 am (PDT)

Attached is a letter I wrote to the Financial Times of London about
the pristine Colombian laptops.

Matt

Dear Sir:

I must take exception to your article entitled "Interpol Says
Captured FARC Documents are Genuine" that appeared on May 16.

Interpol's report is available at:

http://tinyurl.com/58ags5

Throughout their report they state that they draw no conclusions as
the authenticity of the material examined nor to whether the
documents were forged or authentic. They only stated that no user
files had been altered after March 1, 2008.

Additionally, the report raises several questions. On page 30 of the
report they note that thousands of systems files had been created,
modified and deleted after March 1st. It is not presently known who
altered thousands of these systems files after they came into
Colombian custody on March 1. Nor do we know why thousands of these
systems files were altered and deleted.

Interpol does recommend later in their report that police forces
around the world should be better educated on correct protocols for
proper handling in the chain of custody for future investigations of
this nature. What made that recommendation somehow appropriate here?

Additionally, page 43 of the report shows several photographs of the
laptops and hard drives in question. All of them are in pristine
condition, an apparent contradiction to months in the jungle and
surviving a bombing raid so lethal as to kill numerous FARC
commanders and numerous nearby civilians. It is only logical to
assume that local fires were caused by this attack.

One assumes that if these laptops and hard drives contained such a
treasure trove of information Mr. Reyes and other key FARC operatives
would have kept them very close at hand. How they managed to survive
such an attack in pristine condition deserves an explanation.

Matt Dubuque
San Francisco, CA


The Case of the Pristine Colombian Laptops
Posted by: "Matthew Dubuque" [email protected] mdubuque
Sat May 17, 2008 1:31 am (PDT)

I recommend that everyone read the actual Interpol report. We need to
have knowledgeable people review it carefully rather than making
extensive comments without reading more than second hand accounts.

This is a pretext for war and it needs to be carefully rebutted.

The Interpol report is at:

http://tinyurl.com/58ags5

Page 43 of this report shows fotos of the alleged "recovered" laptops
and hard drives. They are all in immaculate and pristine condition,
shiny and new, which contradicts the assertion they had been used so
long as to acquire nearly 700 gigs of information.

Examine the fotos for yourself in Appendix one to the report.

Additionally, these computers and drives look so shiny and new that it
is extremely difficult to conclude they had been in the sweltering
equatorial jungles of Ecuador for very long.

Additionally an extreme amount of lethality was used in this attack
that used thousands of pounds of high explosives.

There is no trace of smoke damage, fire damage or burning from this
armed attack which caused a large fire and killed several civilians
as "collateral damage".

Why are these computers in such pristine condition after such a massive
attack and likely firebombing?

If these computers contained information as sensitive as was alleged,
it is most likely they would have been very close to key commanders.
Surely then not all of them would have survived in such perfect
condition, especially exposed thumbdrives.

Matt