32
121. In addition, the Inter-American Court has found, “the special vulnerability of boys
and girls due to their condition as such becomes even more evident in a situation of domestic armed
conflict, as in the instant case, since they are least prepared to adapt or respond to said situation
and, sadly, it is they who suffer its abuse in a disproportionate manner.” 132
122. The Inter-American Court has referred in its case-law to the corpus juris on the
human rights of children. 133 The Commission has previously addressed this concept in the following
terms:
For an interpretation of a State's obligations vis-a-vis minors, in addition to the provision of
the American Convention, the Commission considers it important to refer to other
international instruments that contain even more specific rules regarding the protection of
children. Those instruments include the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the various
United Nations declarations on the subject. This combination of the regional and universal
human rights systems for purposes of interpreting the Convention is based on Article 29 of
the American Convention and on the consistent practice of the Court and of the Commission
in this sphere. 134
123. Specifically, the Court found that both the American Convention and the Convention
on the Rights of the Child 135 form part of a very comprehensive international corpus juris for the
protection of the child that should help this Court establish the content and scope of the general
provision established in Article 19 of the American Convention. Indeed, in various cases concerning
children, the Court has relied on specific provisions contained in the Convention on the Rights of the
Child to interpret Article 19 of the American Convention. 136
124. In that regard, the Commission believes that, bearing in mind the armed conflict that
framed the facts in the instant case, it is appropriate to draw attention to Articles 6 and 38 of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, which provide
Article 6
1. States Parties recognize that every child has the inherent right to life.
…continuación
also, I/A Court H.R., Juridical Condition and Human Rights of the Child. Advisory Opinion OC-17/02 of August 28, 2002.
Series A, No. 17, pars. 56 and 60.
I/A Court H.R., Case of Sawhoyamaxa Indigenous Community v. Paraguay. Merits, Reparations and Costs.
Judgment of March 29, 2006, par. 154.
131
132
I/A Court H.R., Case of the “Mapiripán Massacre” v. Colombia. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of
September 15, 2005. Series C, No. 134, par. 156.
133
I/A Court H.R., The “Street Children” Case (Villagrán Morales et al.). Merits. Judgment of November 19, 1999.
Series C, No. 63.
134
IACHR, Report No. 41/99, Case 11.491, Minors in Detention, Honduras, March 10, 1999, par. 72. See also:
United Nations, General Assembly, Resolution 3318 (XXIX), of December 14, 1974; Resolution 2597 of December 18,
1968; Resolution 2597 of December 16, 1969; Resolution 2674 and 2675 December 9, 1970 and Resolution of the Security
Council 1882 of 2009.
135
Colombia ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child on January 28, 1991.
136
I/A Court H.R., The “Street Children” Case (Villagrán Morales et al.) v. Guatemala. Merits. Judgment of
November 19, 1999. Series C, No. 63, par.194; See, also, I/A Court H.R., Case of the “Juvenile Reeducation Institute”” v.
Paraguay. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs Judgment of September 2, 2004. Series C, No. 112, par.
148; and I/A Court H.R., Case of the Gómez Paquiyauri Brothers. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of July 8, 2004,
par. 166.