34
omissions by its agents when they are in the position of guarantors, the State does not
fulfill these erga omnes obligations embodied in Articles 1(1) and 2 of the Convention.
121. However, the Court has also recognized that a State cannot be responsible for every
human rights violation committed by individuals subject to its jurisdiction. Indeed, the
nature erga omnes of the State’s Convention obligations do not entail its unlimited
responsibility for every act of an individual. It must be considered in light of the particular
circumstances of the case and the way the State has carried out its obligations as
guarantor, conditioned by its awareness of a situation of real and imminent risk.69
122. Based on the foregoing criteria, the Court shall analyze the facts alleged and the
evidence tendered, within the context in which the incidents occurred.
A)
Context of the facts and declarations made by public officials
123. As has been previously mentioned (supra para. 77 and 78) the Commission
considered it was “public and notorious that the news teams of Globovisión were being
restricted from performing their jobs", which implied that the State had the special duty of
protection and that the ongoing contents of the statements given by the highest-rank
officers of the State could result in acts of violence against the people identified as
employees of that company.
124. Moreover, the representatives alleged that the speeches already mentioned
constituted “threats and moral attacks against […] Globovisión, its executives and
shareholders”, whose content would demonstrate “a violent speech, full with threats and
intimidation” against them and the reporters. They submitted three types of arguments
regarding those speeches: a) that they constitute “in themselves, a violation […] of the
State duty to respect and guarantee the right to humane integrity of all person under its
jurisdiction”, since it is “an “official speech that incite to physically attack people who are
exposed to the public contempt, made with abuse of power and using the means the State
provides the President due to its high rank"; b) that such speeches "are the direct cause" of
the attacks of which the reporters and employees of Globovisión are victims every day;
specifically, of the facts contained in the application, which "have been justified and
considered as legitimate by the President of the Republic himself, considering the ongoing
nature of those messages even after the commission of the physical attacks against the
reporters"; and c) that the content of such speeches "form part of a 'policy' or at least, a
repeated pattern on the part of the President's government […] before independent and
critical social media against independent television stations in particular, like Globovisión,
where the [alleged] victims work at".
125. In the final written arguments, the State repeated that the evidence furnished does
not constitute proof of the causal relationship alleged.
126. The Court notes that the arguments put forward in the Commission’s application
coincide with certain comments and conclusions of the Report on Merits N° 61/06 of October
26, 2006 regarding the content of some statements given by high-rank State’s officials, but
there are contradictions in other issues. Moreover, on account of some of the statements
“contain opinions regarding the way in which Globovisión works, for example, the way they
69
Cf. Case of the Pueblo Bello Massacre v. Colombia, supra note 68, para. 123; Case of Valle Jaramillo et al.
v. Colombia, Merits, Reparations and Costs, supra note 20 para. 78.