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IACHR
Press Release
IACHR Takes Case Involving Colombia to Inter-American Court
February 10, 2012
Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) filed an application with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IA Court HR) in Case No. 10.738, Carlos Augusto Rodríguez Vera et al. (Palace of Justice), Colombia.
The case deals with the forced disappearance of Carlos Augusto Rodríguez Vera, Cristina del Pilar Guarín Cortés, David Suspes Celis, Bernardo Beltrán Hernández, Héctor Jaime Beltrán Fuentes, Gloria Stella Lizarazo, Luz Mary Portela León, Norma Constanza Esguerra, Lucy Amparo Oviedo de Arias, Gloria Anzola de Lanao, Ana Rosa Castiblanco Torres and Irma Franco Pineda, and with the forced disapperance and subsequent execution of magistrate Carlos Horacio Urán Rojas, as well as to the detention and torture of Yolanda Ernestina Santodomingo Albericci, Eduardo Matson Ospino, Orlando Quijano and José Vicente Rubiano Galvis, in the context of the taking and retaking of the Palace of Justice, in Bogota, on November 6 and 7, 1985.
In addition, the case deals with the failure of the judiciary to clarify the facts. Twenty six years after the facts, the State has sanctioned only two intellectual authors; some processes have not made significant progress and are still in preliminary stage; and others have been subjected to procedural delays. Moreover, to date, the State has not taken sufficient steps to ascertain the whereabouts of eleven of the twelve disappeared.
The case was sent to the IA Court HR on February 9, 2012, because the Commission considered that the State had not complied with the recommendations contained in its Report on the case. In that report, the Commission concluded that the State of Colombia is internationally responsible for the violation of the rights to personal liberty, humane treatment, life, and juridical personality to the detriment of Carlos Augusto Rodríguez Vera, Cristina del Pilar Guarín Cortés, David Suspes Celis, Bernardo Beltrán Hernández, Héctor Jaime Beltrán Fuentes, Gloria Stella Lizarazo, Luz Mary Portela León, Norma Constanza Esguerra, Lucy Amparo Oviedo de Arias, Gloria Anzola de Lanao, Ana Rosa Castiblanco Torres, Irma Franco Pineda, and Carlos Horacio Urán Rojas; the violation of the rights to personal liberty and humane treatment to the detriment of Yolanda Ernestina Santodomingo Albericci, Orlando Quijano, José Vicente Rubiano Galvis, and Eduardo Matson Ospino; the violation of the rights to judicial guarantees and judicial protection to the detriment of Yolanda Ernestina Santodomingo Albericci, Orlando Quijano, José Vicente Rubiano Galvis, and Eduardo Matson Ospino; the violation of the rights to judicial guarantees and judicial protection to the detriment of Carlos Augusto Rodríguez Vera, Cristina del Pilar Guarín Cortés, David Suspes Celis, Bernardo Beltrán Hernández, Héctor Jaime Beltrán Fuentes, Gloria Stella Lizarazo, Luz Mary Portela León, Norma Constanza Esguerra, Lucy Amparo Oviedo de Arias, Gloria Anzola de Lanao, Irma Franco Pineda, and Ana Rosa Castiblanco Torres and their next-of-kin, and of the next-of-kin of Carlos Horacio Urán Rojas; the violation of the right to humane treatment to the detriment of the next-of-kin of the victims of forced disappearance, execution, and torture.
A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.
No. 16/12