5 Guillermina 6 Piedrahita Evangelista Díaz Escobar Jesús Serna Raped and murdered June 22, 1997 Paramilitaries Detained, beaten, tied up and disappeared Unlawfully raided, destruction of property, detained and murdered. The Vereda of El Porvenir Hamlet of Santa Lucía June 25, 1997 Paramilitaries July 3, 1997 Detained and disappeared River Perancho August 19, 1997 Paramilitaries acting in coordination with the National Army Paramilitaries Adalberto Mosquera and Luis Alberto Murray Herminio Mosquera 7 Palomeque Detained, tortured and disappeared Highway leading from Turbo to Apartadó December 1, 1997 Paramilitaries 22. The petitioners maintain throughout their allegations that in the present case: (i) the crimes committed constitute crimes against humanity, (ii) the responsibility of the State is aggravated and (iii) the American Convention must be interpreted in light of its Article 29. 23. In the first instance, they stress that the territorial control, the strategy of intimidation and violence, the economic and food blockades, the acts of intimidation, the targeted extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, the restrictions on mobility and forced displacements suffered by the Cacarica communities in the months before February 24, 1997, constituted a systematic pattern of human rights violations, which produced a conducive atmosphere aiding the development of “Operation Genesis” and the crime against Marino López. In addition, they alleged that the circumstances after “Operation Genesis” and the subsequent forced displacement constitute a systematic pattern coincidental with the appropriation of the displaced communities’ collective property for economic investment projects and the formation of a model of development destructive to the communities’ identities. 24. They allege that international law treats forced displacement as a crime against humanity and that what occurred within the Cacarica communities must “be understood in three ways, of cruelty to human life, of defiling human dignity, and of destroying a human culture. Understood within these three 8 meanings, the crime against humanity may easily be turned into a ‘crime against the entire human race’”. Therefore, they allege that paramilitary groups and State agents are responsible for crimes against humanity. 25. In the second place, they consider that these systematic human rights violations: the massive force displacements, the State’s lack of concern and negligence with regard to the displaced communities; also the cruelty and savagery of the perpetrators’ modus operandi (military and paramilitaries), the denial of justice and the pattern of impunity deriving from “Operation Genesis”, lead to the determination of the State’s aggravated responsibility, given the existence of the following elements: (i) crimes against vulnerable groups – boys, girls, women, displaced persons and Afro-descendants – 6 According to the allegations, on June 22, 1997, a paramilitary group arrived in the Santa Lucía community and entered Guillermina Piedrahita’s home where she was with her mother, baby and three other children. The paramilitaries asked for her husband and stated that he was a guerilla. Guillermina Piedrahita replied that her husband was not a guerilla and was not at home. The paramilitaries took her baby from her and bound her hands while her mother asked them not to take her away. They then replied “calm down, we’re going to do a little errand with her and then have her back.” They then took Guillermina Piedrahita away and ordered her mother not to leave the house for three days. On June 23, 1997, the mother found her daughter’s naked body, with clear evidence of having been sexually abused and her throat cut. Testimony of Jesús Serna’s wife. Initial Petition of June 1, 2004. 7 Petitioners’ brief in the proceedings of MC 70-99 received on April 29, 1999 and on May 9, 2001. Cf. Ombudsman’s Office. Resolution of the Ombudsman No. 025 – On the Massive Human Rights Violations and Forced Displacements in the Bajo Atrato Region of Chocó, October 2002. Annex to the initial petition of June 1, 2004. 8 The petitioners cite: Forth Report on the Project of the Code of Crimes against Peace and Human Security. Doc. A/CN.4/398*, March 11, 1986, No. 12. Petitioners’ brief of March 23, 2009.