30 116. Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions expressly forbids under any circumstances violence against “[p]ersons taking no active part in the hostilities.” 121 For its part Article 13 of Protocol II recognizes the principle of civilian immunity as follows: 1. The civilian population and individual civilians shall enjoy general protection against the dangers arising from military operations. To give effect to this protection, the following rules shall be observed in all circumstances. 2. The civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians, shall not be the object of attack. Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited. 3. Civilians shall enjoy the protection afforded by this Part, unless and for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities. 122 117. In this connection, the Commission has taken it as proven that, in keeping with the principle of distinction, there was a prohibition against attacking the civilian population of the village of Santo Domingo. Moreover, the crew of the UH1H and the crews of the other aircraft that were involved in the operations knew that the people in the village were civilians. 123 Therefore, they committed a violation of Article 4(1) of the American Convention. 118. Furthermore, it should be noted that in the Case of the Rochela Massacre v. Colombia the Inter-American Court, making reference to the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, declared a violation of the right to life with respect to individuals who did not die as a result of the massacre. Specifically, the Court referred to the case of Makaratzis v. Greece in which the European Court held that […] the degree and type of force used and the intention or aim behind the use of force may, among other factors, be relevant in assessing whether in a particular case the State agents’ actions in inflicting injury short of death are such as to bring the facts within the scope of the safeguard afforded by Article 2 of the Convention. In the light of the above circumstances, and in particular the degree and type of force used, the Court concludes that, irrespective of whether or not the police actually intended to kill him, the applicant was the victim of conduct which, by its very nature, put his life at risk, even though, in the event, he survived. Article 2 is thus applicable in the instant case. 124 119. The Commission considers as proven that cluster munitions have limited precision as well as great antipersonnel power, since the bombs burst into countless pieces of shrapnel that spread out in all directions. 125 The Commission also takes it as proven that after the explosion of 121 Colombia ratified the Geneva Conventions http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/WebSign?ReadForm&id=375&ps=P. on November 8, 1961. 122 Colombia ratified Protocol II Additional to the Geneva Conventions on August 14, 1995. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/protocol2.htm. Available at: Available at: 123 Annex 4. Twelfth Criminal Court of the Bogotá Circuit with functions under Law 600 of 2000, Judgment at First Instance, Case 2005-102, César Romero Pradilla et al., September 24, 2009, p. 62. Appendix 2 to the State’s brief of October 5, 2010, received at the IACHR on October 6, 2010. 124 Eur.C.H.R., Makaratzis v. Greece [GC], Judgment of 20 December 2004, App. No. 50385/99, paras. 51 and 55. The Spanish version of this opinion uses a translation by the Secretariat of the Court. The above is the original. Cf. Eur.C.H.R., Acar and Others v. Turkey, Judgment of 24 May 2005, App. Nos. 36088/97 and 38417/97, para. 77. I/A Court H.R., Case of the Rochela Massacre v. Colombia. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of May 11, 2007. Series C, No. 163, par. 126. 125 Annex 4. Judgment of the Twelfth Criminal Court of the Bogotá Circuit with functions under Law 600 of 2000, Judgment at First Instance, Case 2005-102, César Romero Pradilla et al., September 24, 2009, p. 64. Appendix 2 to the State’s brief of October 5, 2010, received at the IACHR on October 6, 2010. It transpires from the judgment that on August Continúa…