REPORT Nº 8/02 ADMISSIBILITY PETITION 11.482 NOEL EMIRO OMEARA CARRASCAL, GUILLERMO OMEARA MIRAVAL AND HÉCTOR ALVAREZ SÁNCHEZ COLOMBIA February 27, 2002 I. SUMMARY 1. On May 4, 1995, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Commission”) received a petition lodged by the Colombian Commission of Jurists [Comisión Colombiana de Juristas] (hereinafter “the petitioners”) alleging the extrajudicial execution of Mr. Noel Emiro Omeara Carrascal, the subsequent forced disappearance and extrajudicial execution of his son Guillermo Omeara Miraval, and a physical assault upon Héctor Alvarez Sánchez, allegedly perpetrated by agents of the State in the Municipality of Aguachica, Department of Cesar, Republic of Colombia (hereinafter the “State”, the “Colombian State” or “Colombia”) between January 28 and October 21, 1994. 2. During the course of the proceeding, the petitioners alleged the State’s responsibility for violations of the right to life, the right to humane treatment, the right to personal liberty, the right to a fair trial and the right to judicial protection, recognized in articles 4, 5, 7, 8, and 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter “the American Convention”), all in relation to the State’s general obligation to respect the rights recognized in that instrument and ensure their free and full exercise. The petitioners also alleged that the petition lodged with the IACHR qualified for the exception to the rule requiring exhaustion of local remedies, provided for in Article 46(2) of the American Convention. 3. The State, for its part, reported that the judicial proceedings instituted to conduct an inquiry into the death of Noel Emiro Omeara Carrascal and his son Guillermo Omeara Miraval were still at the preliminary phase. The State did not supply any information concerning Mr. Héctor Alvarez Sánchez. 4. Having examined the positions of the parties, the Commission concluded that it was competent to take up this complaint and that the petition was admissible under articles 46 and 47 of the American Convention.