CCPR/C/70/D/778/1997

UNITED

NATIONS

CCPR

International covenant

on civil and

political rights

Distr.

RESTRICTED*

CCPR/C/70/D/778/1997

7 November 2000

ENGLISH

Original: SPANISH

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE

Seventieth session

16 October - 3 November 2000

DECISIONS

Communication No. 778/1997

Submitted by:

Mr. Federico Andreu (counsel)

Alleged victim:

Coronel et al.

State Party:

Colombia

Date of communication:

29 September 1996 (initial communication)

References:

None

Date of present decision:

13 October 2000

[ANNEX]

* Made public by decision of the Human Rights Committee.

GE.00-45689 (E)

CCPR/C/70/D/778/1997

page 2

Annex

DECISION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE UNDER THE OPTIONAL

PROTOCOL TO THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND

POLITICAL RIGHTS

Seventieth session

concerning

Communication No. 778/1997

Submitted by:

Mr. Federico Andreu (counsel)

Alleged victim:

Coronel et al.

State Party:

Colombia

Date of communication:

29 September 1996 (initial communication)

The Human Rights Committee, established under article 28 of the International Covenant

on Civil and Political Rights,

Meeting on 13 October 2000,

Adopts the following:

Decision on admissibility

1.1

The author of the communication is D. Federico Andreu, a lawyer residing in Brussels.

He is instructed by the relatives and the families of Gustavo Coronel Navarro, Nahún Elías

Sánchez Vega, Ramón Emilio Sánchez, Ramón Emilio Quintero Ropero, Luis Honorio

Quintero Ropero, Ramón Villegas Tellez and Luis Ernesto Ascanio Ascanio (all Colombian

citizens), killed in January 1993. It is submitted that they were victims of violations by

Colombia of articles 2, paragraph 3; 6, paragraph 1; and 7, 9 and 17 of the International

Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The facts as submitted by the author

2.1

Beginning on 12 January 1993 troops of the “Motilones” Anti-Guerrilla Batallion

(No. 17), attached to the Second Mobile Brigade of the Colombian National Army, conducted a

military operation in the indigenous community of San José del Tarra (municipality of Hacari,

department of Norte Santander) and launched a search operation in the region, making incursions

into a number of neighbouring settlements and villages. During these operations the soldiers

raided several houses and arrested a number of people, including Ramón Villegas Tellez,

Gustavo Coronel, Nahún Elías Sánchez Vega, Ramón Emilio Sánchez and Ramón Emilio and

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Luis Honorio Quintero Ropero. Both the raids and the arrests were carried out illegally, since

the soldiers did not have the judicial warrants prescribed by Colombian law on criminal

procedure to conduct searches or make arrests.

2.2

Ramón Villegas Tellez, Gustavo Coronel, Nahún Elías Sánchez Vega, Ramón Emilio

Quintero Ropero, Ramón Emilio Sánchez, Luis Honorio Quintero Ropero and others were

tortured by the soldiers, and some of them were forced to put on military uniforms and go on

patrol with the members of the “Motilones” Anti-Guerrilla Batallion (No. 17).

2.3

On 25 January 1993, Luis Ernesto Ascanio Ascanio, aged 16, was abducted while on his

way home by soldiers who, a few days before, had raided the home of the Ascanio Ascanio

family, ill-treating and harassing its members, who included six minors and a 22-year-old

mentally deficient boy; the latter they attempted to hang. The soldiers remained in the house

until 31 January, holding its inhabitants hostage. Luis Ernesto Ascanio Ascanio was seen for the

last time some 15 minutes’ walk from the family home. On the same day, members of the

Ascanio family heard shouts and shots coming from outside the house. On 27 January two of the

brothers of Luis Ernesto Ascanio Ascanio succeeded in evading the military guards and fled to

Ocaña, where they advised the local authorities and submitted a complaint to the provincial

office of the Attorney-General’s Department. Once the military patrol had withdrawn, the search

for Luis Ernesto Ascanio Ascanio began; the outcome was the discovery of a pocket knife

belonging to him some 300 metres away from the house.

2.4

The Second Mobile Brigade reported various alleged armed clashes with guerrillas of the

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) - the first on 13 January 1993 at a place

known as Filo Tamusuco; the second on 18 January 1993 in a mountainous area in the settlement

of San Juan, Hacari, and two on 27 January 1993, one at the San Pedro Pass in the indigenous

settlement of Las Mercedes, Teorama, and another in the settlement of La Vega, Abrego.

2.5

The version given by the military authorities was that during the clashes the regular

troops had killed a number of guerrillas. On 13 January 1993 three bodies were removed by the

judicial police (Judicial Inquiries and Intelligence Service - SIJIN) in Ocaña, one of which was

identified as the body of Gustavo Coronel. On 18 January the soldiers deposited the bodies of

four alleged guerrillas “killed in combat” at the Emiro Quintero Cañizares Hospital. The SIJIN

removed these corpses and confirmed the deaths of Luis Honorio Quintero Ropero,

Ramón Emilio Quintero Ropero, Nahún Elías Sánchez Vega and Ramón Emilio Sánchez. On

29 January 1993 the Second Mobile Brigade brought in the bodies of four persons killed in the

clashes of 27 January 1993; again the SIJIN removed the bodies. On 21 May 1993 the bodies of

the four last mentioned dead were exhumed in the cemetery of Ocaña; the body of Luis Ernesto

Ascanio Ascanio was recognized by relatives of his who were present.

2.6

In a report dated 19 January 1993 the forensic surgeon reported that one of the bodies

brought to the hospital on 18 January contained a number of bullet entry holes with powder

marks; while in the records of removal of the bodies on 21 May 1993 the officials of the SIJIN

affirmed that the bodies were clothed with uniforms used exclusively by the National Police.

2.7

On 9 February, 150 peasants peacefully entered the municipal premises at Cúcuta, the

capital of the department of Norte Santander, to protest against and denounce the brutalities

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committed by the Second Mobile Brigade. The author also reports that between 3 April

and 11 May 1993, the Second Mobile Brigade committed a number of additional offences,

including arbitrary detentions, torture and murders.

2.8

Following the incidents reported, the Ascanio, Sánchez and Quintero families were

subjected to a great deal of harassment;1 as a consequence they had to leave the region and move

to various places within the country.

2.9

Members of the Ocaña Human Rights Committee, the Ocaña People’s Housing and

Self-Construction Association (ASOVIPA) and the Association of Relatives of Detained and

Disappeared Persons (ASFADDES), who had actively cooperated in the reporting of the facts,

were also subjected to harassment; they even had temporarily to close their offices in Ocaña.

2.10

As regards the exhaustion of internal remedies, the author of the complaint points out that

the members of the victim’s families and the NGOs assisting them have brought the facts to the

knowledge of the judicial authorities in the criminal, administrative litigation, disciplinary and

administrative departments at local, provincial and national levels.

2.11

Between 15 January and 1 February 1993, the families concerned reported the

disappearance of their members to the Provincial Office of the Attorney-General in Ocaña. They

also lodged a complaint with the same authority concerning abuse of power by the Second

Mobile Brigade. The mayor of Hacari sent an official letter to the commander of the brigade

requesting him to investigate the facts and order the release of the peasants. The mayor of the

municipality of La Playa2 lodged complaints with the competent authorities concerning the

incidents perpetrated by the Second Mobile Brigade within his municipal boundaries, namely

acts of violence against the Ascanio Ascanio family and the disappearance of Luis Ernest

Ascanio Ascanio.

2.12

The families of the victims, accompanied by members of two NGOs, ASFADDES and

the Association for Alternative Advancement (MINGA), made various representations to the

Provincial Office of the Attorney-General in Ocaña, the National Office for Examination and

Processing of Complaints (Office of the People’s Advocate) and the Regional Office of the

Public Prosecutor in Cúcuta.

2.13

On 15 July 1993 the municipal official in Hacari in charge of the case, after receiving

information from the relatives, submitted a report in which he concluded that it was impossible

to “identify individually” those responsible for the abduction of Gustavo Coronel and

Ramón Villegas, but that they were members of the Second Mobile Brigade.

2.14

Counsel points out that only the family of Luis Ernesto Ascanio Ascanio submitted their

complaint to the Ocaña office of the Public Prosecutor’s Department in February 1993 in person.

The facts relating to the other victims were brought to the attention of the Public Prosecutor’s

Office by the non-governmental organization MINGA, since the other families were afraid to

present themselves personally at the offices of the judiciary in Ocaña.

2.15

The preliminary inquiries made were compiled in file No. 4239 and transmitted to the

military jurisdiction, as the competent body, in April 1995. From 30 August 1995 onwards the

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relatives attempted several times to convince the human rights unit in the National Public

Prosecutor’s Office to begin criminal proceedings; but the request was refused on the grounds

that the matter was one for the military courts.

2.16

The military criminal jurisdiction undertook various preliminary investigations into the

facts as described. Judge No. 47 of the Military Criminal Investigation Unit, attached to the

Second Mobile Brigade, opened preliminary inquiries Nos. 27, 30 and 28, the findings of which

are set down in file No. 979, throughout which the incidents are referred to as “deaths in

combat”.

2.17

During 1995, the Ascanio Ascanio family attempted to join the proceedings as a civil

party in the trial before Judge No. 47 in the Military Criminal Investigation Department;

however, this was impossible on account of the continual changes in the geographical location of

Court No. 47, since the latter was attached to the Second Mobile Brigade and followed it in its

movements as dictated by military operations.

2.18

On 3 July 1996, the Second Mobile Brigade was stationed in the city of Fusagasuga

(Cundinamarca), and the family of Luis Ernesto Ascanio Ascanio succeeded in submitting in

person a petition to join the proceedings as a civil party. Up to the date of the initial

communication, they had not been notified of any judicial decision on the subject.3

2.19

Counsel states that the Special Investigations Unit in the National Office of the

Attorney-General opened a file (No. 2291-93/DH) on the incidents in question following

complaints submitted by the relatives to the Provincial Office of the Attorney-General in Ocaña,

and certain officials were appointed to conduct the investigation. On 22 February 1993, a

preliminary report from the officials in charge of the investigation drew attention to

contradictions between the versions of the relatives and those of the military, and also to the

obstacles and difficulties which the judge in charge of Court No. 47 in the Military Criminal

Investigation Department had placed in their way in the performance of their task. They

suggested that further evidence should be sought and that disciplinary investigation proceedings

against Judge No. 47 of the Military Criminal Investigation Department should be instituted.

2.20

The director of the Special Investigations Unit ordered a new investigation, together with

an order to conduct an investigation into the conduct of Judge No. 47 of the Military Criminal

Investigation Department. Several reports were submitted to the director; one of them, relating

to Luis Honorio Quintero Ropero, Ramón Emilio Ropero Quintero, Nahún Elías Sánchez Vegas

and Ramón Emilio Sánchez, stated that “it is fully demonstrated that material responsibility lies

with anti-guerrilla section C of battalion 17 (‘Motilones’) of the Second Mobile Brigade under

the command of Captain Serna Arbelaez Mauricio”.

2.21

On 29 June 1994, in their final report, the officials confirmed that it was fully proved that

the peasants had been detained by members of anti-guerrilla battalion No. 17 (“Motilones”) of

the Second Mobile Brigade, on the occasion of a military operation carried out in compliance

with operation order No. 10 issued by the commander of that military unit; that the peasants were

last seen alive when in the hands of the soldiers and appeared to have died later in the course of

two alleged clashes with units of the military. They also established that Luis Ernesto

Ascanio Ascanio, a minor, was last seen alive heading home some 15 minutes’ walk from home

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and that the boy was found dead after another alleged clash with the military. The officials

identified the commanders, officers, non-commissioned officers and privates who formed part of

the patrols which captured the peasants and occupied the dwelling of the Ascanio family. The

report concluded that “on the basis of the evidence advanced, the allegation of combats in which

the victims could have taken part is discredited, since they were already being held by troops of

the National Army, in a manner which was, moreover, irregular; some of them bear marks on the

skin which demonstrate even more clearly the defenceless condition they were in …”. The

report recommended that the case be referred to the Armed Forces Division in the

Attorney-General’s Office.

2.22

On 25 October 1994, the Armed Forces Division in the Attorney-General’s Office

referred the file to the Human Rights Division of the same office on the grounds of competence.

In the note of transmission it was established that “the following has been established … the

state of complete defencelessness of the victims …, the close range from which the bullets that

killed them were fired and the detention previous to their deaths; the foregoing, together with

other items of evidence, disproves the existence of an alleged combat which it is claimed was the

central circumstance causing the deaths recorded”.

2.23

On 28 November 1994 the Human Rights Division opened disciplinary proceedings file

No. 008-153713 and began preliminary investigations. On 26 April 1996 it informed the

ASFADDES that the proceedings were still at the preliminary inquiry stage.

2.24

On 13 January 1995 the families of the victims lodged “a claim against the Colombian

Nation for extra-contractual liability” for the deaths of Luis Honorio Quintero Ropero,

Ramón Emilio Quintero Ropero, Ramón Emilio Sánchez, Luis Ernesto Ascanio Ascanio,

Nahún Elías Sánchez Vega and Ramón Villegas Tellez; the claims were declared admissible

between 31 January and 24 February 1995.

2.25

Counsel submits that in view of the nature of the rights infringed and the gravity of the

incidents, only remedies of a judicial nature can be considered effective; that is not the case with

disciplinary remedies. In that connection he quotes the precedents established by the

Committee.4 Equally, counsel considers that the military courts cannot be considered as offering

an effective remedy within the meaning of article 2, paragraph 3, since in military justice the

persons implicated are both judge and party. The situation is in fact incongruous inasmuch as

the judge of first instance in criminal military cases is the commander of the Second Mobile

Brigade, who is precisely the person responsible for the military operation which gave rise to the

incidents forming the subject of the complaint.

The complaint

3.1

The author submits that the facts outlined above amount to violations by Colombia of

article 6, paragraph 1, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in that the

seven peasants were arbitrarily deprived of life. He also alleges a violation of article 7 of the

Covenant on account of the torture suffered by them after having been arbitrarily detained and

before being murdered. The detention of the victims by the armed forces without any type of

arrest warrant is a violation of article 9 of the Covenant.

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3.2

Counsel also alleges a violation of article 17 of the Covenant, consisting in a violation of

the right to privacy and freedom from interference in family life when the victims were seized in

their homes.

3.3

Lastly, he alleges a violation of article 2, paragraph 3, of the Covenant since the State

Party has not provided an effective remedy for cases where it fails in its obligation to safeguard

the rights protected by the Covenant.

3.4

He states that the case has not been submitted to the Inter-American Commission on

Human Rights or any other body in the regional system for the protection of human rights, or to

any other existing mechanism.

Information and observations submitted by the State Party

4.1

In its communications dated 11 February (MPC 118) and 9 June 1998 (MPC 772), the

State Party requests that the complaint be declared inadmissible on the grounds that the remedies

provided for in the domestic jurisdiction have not been exhausted, that being a condition laid

down in article 5, paragraph 2 (b), of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on

Civil and Political Rights.

4.2

The State Party maintains that the introduction of proceedings and the presentation of

complaints before the investigation, supervisory and judgemental authorities of the State

mentioned in the communication of the author, where he refers to the exhaustion of domestic

remedies, form a basis for the beginning of the appropriate procedures but do not as such

determine the exhaustion of those remedies.

4.3

It also reports that various proceedings are under way, from which it may be concluded

that the resources of domestic jurisdiction are not exhausted. The proceedings mentioned as

under way are as follows:

- As regards criminal proceedings, investigation proceedings are being conducted by

Court No. 47 of the Military Criminal Investigation Department. Progress is being

made in one of the most important stages, namely that of investigation, in the course

of which various steps have been taken such as statements, recognition of

photographs, exhumations and special visits to the place where the incidents occurred

and other neighbouring sites.

- In the light of Decision No. C-358 of the Constitutional Court, the National

Government has requested the National Office of the Attorney-General to study the

possibility of transferring the criminal proceedings to the ordinary courts.

- As regards disciplinary proceedings, the Human Rights Division of the

Attorney-General’s Office has opened disciplinary proceeding file No. 008-153713

with a view to conducting a disciplinary inquiry concerning the members of the

armed forces alleged to have been implicated.

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- As regards administrative litigation, proceedings have been initiated (see para. 2.24)

to obtain direct compensation; they are at present under consideration in the

administrative litigation courts. Their aim is to obtain from the State compensation

for prejudice which the State may have caused to an individual while performing its

functions through one of its agents; this could lead to a declaration of institutional

liability of the State in relation to the incidents forming the subject of the complaint.

4.4

According to the State Party, counsel concludes that “the families and NGOs have

applied to every possible source of legal remedy and have exhausted all the legal paths open to

them”. What he does not say is that those sources to which they applied are carrying out their

functions. The author himself refers to “the great mass of information collected by the

investigating authorities”; this confirms the contention of the Government that the jurisdictional

branch of the State has been working on the case and is continuing to do so.

4.5

The Government does not share the author’s view that “the case has sunk in a morass of

impunity”. The remedies in themselves cannot be described as ineffective, nor can their alleged

ineffectiveness be generalized on the basis of difficulties faced both by the authorities and by the

families of the victims in the exercise of those remedies. For instance, the sister of one of the

victims submitted a petition to the National Directorate of Public Prosecutors’ Offices requesting

it to rule that a conflict of jurisdiction existed, so that the proceedings could be transferred from

the military criminal justice system to the ordinary courts. This request could not be met and

was refused, simply because she had applied to an administrative (instead of a judicial) authority,

the terms of reference of which did not cover petitions of that type. It should be made clear that

this does not signify a denial of justice and that the difficulties and delays in the handling of the

recourses cannot be interpreted as “impunity” on the part of the State.

The author’s comments on the State Party’s observations

5.1

In communications dated 30 March 1998 and 19 October 1998, the victims’

representative maintains that the mere existence of a procedural means of addressing violations

of human rights is insufficient; such remedies must have the capacity to protect the right violated

or, failing that, to compensate the damage done. He notes that the Human Rights Committee,

when dealing with particularly serious violations, has held that only domestic remedies entailing

criminal prosecution can be deemed to constitute effective remedies within the meaning of

article 2, paragraph 3, of the Covenant.5 He notes also that, according to the Committee, purely

administrative and disciplinary remedies cannot be deemed adequate or effective.

5.2

Counsel states that the disciplinary procedure in question is a self-monitoring mechanism

for the civil service, and he seeks assurances that it is being properly used.

5.3

Administrative litigation deals with only one aspect of the right to compensation: the

damage done and the loss of income suffered by the victim as a result of abuse of authority by an

agent of the State or dereliction of duty by a civil servant. Other aspects of the right of victims

of human rights violations to compensation, such as the right to appropriate protection of family

members,6 are not covered by the decisions of administrative courts or the Council of State.

From this standpoint, administrative litigation does not fully guarantee the right to compensation.

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5.4

As regards the State Party’s contention that the Government has requested the

Attorney-General’s Office to consider the possibility of transferring the criminal proceedings to

the ordinary courts in the light of Decision No. C-358 of the Constitutional Court, counsel makes

the following observations:

- Transfer of the criminal proceedings currently being conducted by the military

authorities to the ordinary courts is not a certainty, but merely a possibility. In similar

situations the military courts have refused to comply with Constitutional Court

decisions.

- Notwithstanding Constitutional Court decision No. 358/97, by virtue of which a

number of articles of the Code of Military Justice were declared unconstitutional, the

provisions of the Constitution governing military jurisdiction remain in force and

their ambiguous wording makes it possible for violations of human rights by

members of the armed forces to be prosecuted in the military courts.

- The Ascanio Ascanio family filed an appeal to have the case transferred to the

ordinary courts in the light of Constitutional Court decision No. 358/97. Their appeal

was denied by the Office of the Public Prosecutor.

- It was in fact the Office of the Public Prosecutor that decided, without any legally

valid grounds for doing so, to transfer the preliminary proceedings in the case to the

military courts.

5.5

With regard to the Government’s contention that the authorities to which the victims’

relatives had turned were “carrying out their functions”, counsel establishes that this allegation is

far from the truth, since the communications sent identify each of the State institutions to which

an appeal was made and indicate the status of the proceedings in each.

5.6

The criminal proceedings have remained within the military criminal jurisdiction, yet the

victims’ families have been unable to bring accompanying civil proceedings. On

27 February 1998 the Human Rights Division of the Attorney-General’s Office ordered the

discontinuance of the disciplinary investigation being conducted against some of those

responsible for the incidents in the case. The decision by the Attorney-General’s Office was

based on the fact that one of the officers involved had died and that disciplinary action against

the others was called for under article 34 of Act No. 200 of 1995, which set a statute of

limitations of five years for disciplinary matters.

5.7

Counsel reiterates that the only appropriate domestic remedy is a criminal trial, which in

the present case is being conducted in the military courts. On the basis of the Committee’s

doctrine and that of other international human rights bodies, the military courts in Colombia

cannot be considered to be an effective remedy for dealing with human rights violations

committed by members of the army. Even if a military criminal trial might be considered an

appropriate remedy, the military criminal court has been conducting its investigation for more

than five years without any apparent results. The Colombian Military Criminal Code stipulates a

period of no more than 30 days within which to complete the initial investigation (art. 552) and

no more than 60 days for completion of the proceedings when there are two or more offences or

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defendants (art. 562). The trial, in one of the various procedural formats, must be conducted

within two months (arts. 652-681) and by a summary court martial dealing with offences against

life and the person (art. 683). The proceedings taking place in the military criminal court have

exceeded these terms.

Issues and proceedings before the Committee

6.1

Before considering any claims contained in a communication, the Human Rights

Committee must, in accordance with rule 87 of its rules of procedure, decide whether or not the

communication is admissible under the Optional Protocol to the Covenant.

6.2

The Committee notes that this case is not before any other international body.

6.3

With regard to the requirement that all domestic remedies must be exhausted, the

Committee takes note of the remedies of which the victims’ families have sought to avail

themselves7 and notes that more than seven years after the events occurred the parties

responsible for the deaths of Gustavo Coronel, Nahún Elías Sánchez Vega, Ramón Emilio

Sánchez, Ramón Emilio Quintero Ropero, Luis Honorio Quintero Ropero, Ramón Villegas

Tellez and Luis Ernesto Ascanio Ascanio have yet to be identified, arrested or brought to trial.

The Committee considers that all the judicial proceedings relating to the investigation of the

deaths and prosecution of the perpetrators have been unreasonably prolonged, within the

meaning of article 5, paragraph 2 (b), of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on

Civil and Political Rights.

6.4

As regards the status of disciplinary and administrative proceedings, the question again

arises as to whether such procedures can be considered to constitute an effective domestic

remedy within the meaning of article 5, paragraph 2 (b). As the Committee has stated on

previous occasions, remedies must not only exist but must also be effective, and the term

“domestic remedies” must be understood to mean chiefly judicial remedies. The effectiveness of

a remedy is also dependent to some extent on the nature of the violation which is the subject of

the complaint. In other words, if the violation which is the subject of the complaint is

particularly serious, as is the case with violations of basic human rights, particularly the right to

life, remedies of a purely disciplinary and administrative nature cannot be considered sufficient

or effective. Furthermore the compensation proceedings have been unreasonably prolonged.

6.5

As for the complaints that Ramón Villegas Tellez was arbitrarily arrested and that

Gustavo Coronel, Nahún Elías Sánchez Vega, Ramón Emilio Sánchez, Ramón Emilio

Quintero Ropero, Luis Honorio Quintero Ropero and Luis Ernesto Ascanio Ascanio were

arbitrarily arrested, tortured and subsequently found dead, all in violation of articles 6, 7 and 9 of

the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Committee considers that the facts

presented raise questions under the Covenant.

6.6

The Committee also considers that the allegations made in connection with article 2,

paragraph 3, and article 17 of the Covenant, regarding the right to an effective remedy and

interference in the private life of the victims, must also be considered on the merits.

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6.7

Consequently, the Committee determines that in view of the procedural delays, it is not

prevented under article 5, paragraph 2 (b), of the Optional Protocol, from considering the

complaint, which may give rise to questions under articles 2, 6, 7, 9 and 17 of the International

Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

6.8

The Human Rights Committee therefore decides:

- That the communication is admissible;

- That, in accordance with article 4, paragraph 2, of the Optional Protocol, the State

Party shall be requested to submit to the Committee, within six months of the date of

transmittal to it of this decision, written explanations or statements clarifying the

matter and the measures, if any, that may have been taken by it;

- That any explanations or statements received from the State Party shall be

communicated to the author under rule 93, paragraph 3, of the Committee’s rules of

procedure, with the request that any comments he may wish to make thereon should

reach the Human Rights Committee, in care of the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights, within six weeks of the date of transmittal;

- That this decision shall be communicated to the State Party and to the author.

[Adopted in English, French and Spanish, the Spanish text being the original version.

Subsequently to be issued also in Arabic, Chinese and Russian as part of the Committee’s annual

report to the General Assembly.]

Notes

1 Three members of the victims’ families were murdered, supposedly by paramilitary groups.

The brothers Ramón Elí and Carmen Emiro Ascanio were murdered in the market place of the

town of Ocaña in December 1994. On 6 March 1995, Ramón David Ascanio Pérez was

murdered in the same place. All three had made statements to the authorities during the inquiries

opened into the murders reported here. In addition, soldiers posted in the municipality of

La Playa desecrated the tombs of members of the Ascanio family murdered in 1981 and 1987 by

the military. Also in 1995, in the municipality of Ocaña, a paramilitary group operating under

various names (“los tunebos”, “las ovejas”, “mano negra”, “colsinguer”) passed around a list

containing the names of various persons sentenced to death; that list included several members

of the families of the victims who form the subject of this complaint.

2 In 1994 the mayor was murdered in the centre of the city of Ocaña by a number of armed men,

supposedly members of paramilitary groups.

3 Likewise, up to the present time, there is no evidence that any judicial decision has been

notified to them.

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4 See the views adopted in cases numbers 563/1993 (Nydia Bautista de Arellana v. Colombia),

on 27 October 1995, para. 8.2, and 612/1995 (Arhuacos v. Colombia), 29 July 1997, para. 8.2.

5 See note 4.

6 (CCPR/C/D/563/1993, para. 10).

7 The family of Luis Ernesto Ascanio Ascanio filed a criminal complaint in verbal form to the

local Prosecutor’s Office in Ocaña in February 1993. Facts relating to the other victims were

brought to the attention of the Prosecutor’s Office by the members of non-governmental

organizations. The father of Luis Ernesto Ascanio Ascanio filed a criminal complaint with the

Prosecutor’s Office in Ocaña concerning the illegal search of his house, arbitrary arrest of his

family members and disappearance of his son. The Committee in Solidarity with Political

Prisoners filed a complaint regarding these incidents with the highest court in Colombia.

Preliminary investigations by the Ocaña Prosecutor’s Office were combined into a single file

which was transferred to military jurisdiction in April 1995.

Court No. 47 of the Military Criminal Investigation Department attached to the Army’s

Second Mobile Brigade opened the following criminal investigations: No. 27, opened

on 25 January 1993, concerning the death of Gustavo Coronel, inter alia; No. 30, opened

on 27 February 1993, concerning the deaths of Nahún Elías Sánchez Vega, Ramón Emilio

Quintero Ropero, Ramón Sánchez Pérez and Luis Honorio Quintero Ropero; No. 28, opened on

10 February 1993, concerning the death of two unidentified persons, one of whom was

subsequently identified as Luis Ernesto Ascanio Ascanio. The cases were consolidated by the

judge of Court No. 47 into a single preliminary proceeding (No. 9798). Since 1995 the

Ascanio Ascanio family has sought unsuccessfully to join the proceedings in Court No. 47 as a

civil party.

From 15 January to 1 February 1993, the victims’ relatives filed complaints with the

Provincial Attorney-General’s Office in Ocaña. Ninfa Rosa Navarro de Coronel, José Antonio

Coronel (father of Gustavo Coronel) and Matilda Ruedas (wife of Gustavo Coronel) filed a

complaint on 26 January 1993. The brother of Ramón Villegas filed a complaint

on 16 January 1993. The mother of Ramón Villegas did so on 26 January 1993. The sister of

Luis Ernesto Ascanio Ascanio filed a complaint on 25 January 1993, as did their father. A

complaint concerning the case of Luis Ernesto Ascanio Ascanio was also brought before the

People’s Advocate. The National Office for Examination and Processing of Complaints heard

the case and took steps to support the Office of the Attorney-General of the Nation.

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