11
35.
In its application, the Commission makes reference to a sixth victim, killed
under the very same circumstances as the five named victims but whose identity is
unknown. In the evidence in the case file, the sixth victim appears as N.N./Moisés
or N.N./Moisés Ojeda. At the public hearing held on May 28, 2001, the agent for
Colombia acknowledged “that in this case, the State’s international responsibility for
violation of Article 4 of the American Convention on Human Rights, by virtue of the
death of NN/Moisés Ojeda, was conceded.” The Commission made note of this
acknowledgement. With the latter, the issue concerning the State’s responsibility for
violation of this person’s right to life was settled.
*
*
36.
The application states that seven people were killed in the events that
occurred in Las Palmeras, the seventh victim being Hernán Lizcano Jacanamejoy.
The Commission states that one of the victims was purported to have been killed in
combat; the Commission, however, is of the view that neither N.N./Moisés Ojeda nor
Hernán Lizcano Jacanamejoy was a combat fatality. In the application, therefore, it
asks that the Court
Establish the circumstances surrounding the death of a seventh person purported to
have been killed in combat (Hernán Lizcano Jacanamejoy or Moisés Ojeda), to determine
whether the right to life recognized in Article 4 of the Convention has been violated [by
the State of Colombia] […]
In its answer, Colombia acknowledges its responsibility for the deaths of Hernán
Javier Cuarán Muchavisoy, Artemio Pantoja Ordóñez, Julio Milciades Cerón Gómez,
Wilian Hamilton and Edebraes Cerón Rojas. It also states that the judgments
delivered in the local courts and the evidence available indicate that one of the seven
victims at Las Palmeras “died in a clash with members of the National Police.” As for
the other person, the State contends that it does not have “sufficient evidence to
determine whether his death was or was not a violation of the right to life in the
meaning of Article 4 of the Convention.”
In its observations on the State’s answer, the Commission asserts that based on the
evidence Colombia tendered in this case, it has concluded that N.N./Moisés Ojeda
was executed by members of the National Police while in their custody. It reasons
that:
The testimony given by a number of State agents who participated in the operation
confirms that the physical features of the person purported to have died in combat do
not match those of N/N Moisés; they are more similar to those of Hernán Lizcano
Jacanamejoy.
While the Commission cites the testimony of one of those who took part in the
operation to conclude that N.N./Moisés Ojeda was the person that the Police
executed once they had him in custody, it also calls into question the testimony of
other police involved to the effect that Hernán Lizcano Jacanamejoy died in combat.
The Commission “considers that elements are present that make the truth of this
aspect of their testimony questionable.” Later, the Commission stated that the
evidence is not precise enough to confirm the circumstances under which Hernán
Lizcano Jacanamejoy died:
based on these observations with regard to the available data, the Commission believes
that the circumstances of the death of Hernán Lizcano Jacanamejoy and, therefore, the