conflict continue to be present in Riosucio, which fosters a situation that gives rise to violence
and insecurity.
459. The Court indicates that, as a result of the State’s failure to comply with its obligation to
ensure the right to collective ownership (supra paras. 353 and 358), the communities of the
Cacarica have suffered harm that goes beyond the mere detriment to their collective wealth.
The body of evidence reveals that they have a special relationship with the lands they inhabit
and that, consequently, they were profoundly affected not only by being dispossessed of these
lands, but also by the fact that the illegal exploitation of the natural resources by third parties
was permitted. Accordingly, in order to avoid a repetition of such acts, the Court orders the
State to restore the efective use, enjoyment and possession of the territories recognized by law
to the Afro-descendant communities assembled in the Cacarica Community Council.
460. The Court is also aware that the members of the Cacarica communities feel inseure,
particularly owing to the presence of armed agents. It is possible that this situation will not
change until public order is re-established and until effective investigations and judicial
proceedings are conducted that result in the clarification of the facts and the punishment of
those responsible. Therefore, the Court considers, as it has in other cases, 732 that the State
must guarantee that the conditions of the territories that the State must restitute, as well as of
the place where the members of the Cacarica communities live at present, are adequate for the
safety and decent life of those who have returned and also of those who have not yet done so.
To this end, the State must send periodically – at least once a month – official representatives
to the territories from which these persons were displaced and, in particular, to the Peace
Communities (“Esperanza de Diós” and “Nueva Vida”), for the five years that follow notification
of this Judgment, in order to verify the situation of public order and, consequently, they must
meet with the communities or the designated representatives of the latter. If, during these
monthly meetings, the inhabitants of the communities express concern about their safety, the
State must take the necessary measures to guarantee this, and these measures must be
designed in collaboration with the beneficiaries of such measures.
461. The Court finds that it is not appropriate to order other additional measures requested by
the representatives. Nevertheless, the domestic reparation programs refer specifically to
housing programs and to land restitution mechanisms, as well as to other measures of
rehabilitation, satisfaction and non-repetition.733 Consequently, the victims in this case should
also have access to these other forms of reparation within, at most, one year of notification of
this Judgment.
D. Compensation
D.1. Arguments of the Commission and of the parties
462. The Commission asked the Court to “adopt the necessary measures to guarantee to the
displaced fair compensation for the violations of which the Afro-descendant communities of the
732
Cf. Case of the Pueblo Bello Massacre v. Colombia. para. 275, Case of the Ituango Massacres v. Colombia.
Preliminary objection, merits, reparations and costs, para. 404, and Case of the Mapiripán Massacre v. Colombia.
Merits, and reparations, para. 313.
733
One of the basic pillars of the National Plan of Assistance and Integral Reparation for Victims of the Colombian
Armed Conflict, Prosperidad para Todos (hereinafter “PNARIV”) is peace-building, which according to the objectives of
the Development Plan is achieved inter alia by the implementation of mechanisms for the integral reparation of the
victims of the armed conflict in its different categories: (a) restitution; (b) compensation; (c) rehabilitation; (d)
satisfaction, and (e) guarantees of non-repetition. The legal framework for the PNARIV consists of: (a) the Victims and
Land Restitution Law (Law 1448 of 2011); (b) two CONPES documents: No. 3712 of 2011 and No. 3726 of 2012; (c)
Decrees Nos. 4800/11, 4801/11, 4802/11, 4829/11, 4633/11, 4634/11, 4635/11 and 0599/12; (d) Program for the
Psychosocial Care and Integral Health of the Victims under Law 1448/11 of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection
of November 2012, and (e) decision No. 459/12 (Protocol and model of comprehensive care for victims of sexual
crimes).
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