93. During the morning of November 6, 1985, the M-19 took the Palace of Justice in what it called the “Antonio Nariño Human Rights Operation.” 105 35 individuals took part in the operation: 106 25 men and 10 women. The Palace of Justice is located on the northern side of Bolivar Plaza in Bogota. 107 94. Between “10.30 and 11 a.m., seven armed individuals in civilian clothing, members of the M-19 entered the building [of the Palace of Justice]” and went to different offices in the Palace. Subsequently, three vehicles carrying 28 members of the guerrilla entered the basement of the Palace “firing indiscriminately,” “they killed two private guards,” and an exchange of fire began between the guerrillas and “some of the bodyguards of the justices who were there at the time.” At the same time, on hearing the first shots, the group that had entered dressed in civilian clothing “took out their weapons and announced the armed takeover by the M-19.” The M-19 took those who were present in the Palace of Justice at the time hostage. One of the first places seized by the guerrilla was the cafeteria located on the first floor. 108 95. The President of the Republic, after consulting with his ministers and former Presidents, decided “not to negotiate with the insurgents, but […] to try and get them to surrender and to save the lives of the hostages.” 109 At approximately 1 p.m., the military operation to retake the Palace of Justice commenced with the entry of tanks into the basement of the building, where there was a violent confrontation between the guerrilla group and the soldiers. In this regard, the Special Court established by the State to investigate the events (infra para. 156) indicated that “the bloody and prolonged battle resulted in numerous deaths on both sides, caused the first fire in the basement, and was characterized by the use of automatic weapons, bombs and explosives.” 110 105 The State alleged that the taking of the Palace of Justice was funded by drug-traffickers. In this regard, the Special Investigative Court indicated that “[t]he suspicion of this supposed connection […] has not been confirmed during the investigation.” Also, the Truth Commission considered that the M-19 “[n]ever had a submissive relationship with [drug-trafficking groups], but [assistance in transferring people and objects existed, as well as to obtain weapons].” However, it concluded that “there was a connection between the M-19 and the Medellin Cartel for the attack on the Palace of Justice,” even though “not all the members of the M-19 knew about the connection.” The Truth Commission also indicated that the drug-traffickers had offered the M-19 specific sums, for example, to eliminate files and to murder the President of the Supreme Court of Justice. Cf. Report of the Special Investigative Court (evidence file, folio 30489), and Report of the Truth Commission (evidence file, folios 312 to 314 and 320). 106 Carlos Bacigalupo, deponent for information purposes, who acted as an expert witness for the Truth Commission, stressed that “even though, to date, the figure of 35 is used for the number of M-19 guerrillas who took part in the attack, this has never been fully corroborated. It is known that 42 individuals had been scheduled to take part in the attack on the Palace, and that only 35 of them entered. Numerous lists exist, although none of them is final, with the names and aliases in some cases, but in many other cases only the alias is known. Moreover, the names vary and the number of names that are on all the lists is always less than the 35 individuals who supposedly executed the attack. In addition, some people had several alternate names or aliases; hence, drawing up a final list of names is difficult.” Written notes by Carlos Bacigalupo (evidence file, folio 36325). 107 Cf. Report of the Truth Commission (evidence file, folios 112, 115 and 116). See also: report of the Special Investigative Court (evidence file, folios 30487 and 30493), and Judgment of the 30th Itinerant Criminal Investigation Court Bogota of January 31, 1989 (evidence file, folio 24200). 108 Cf. Report of the Truth Commission (evidence file, folios 115, 116 and 117); Testimony of Enrique Parejo González provided to the Prosecution Service on December 4, 2007 (evidence file, folio 14764), and Report of the Special Investigative Court (evidence file, folios 30530 and 30493 to 30496). 109 Cf. Minutes of the Council of Ministers No. 176, for the special session of November 7, 1985 (evidence file, folio 31851). 110 Cf. Minutes of the Council of Ministers No. 176, for the special session of November 7, 1985 (evidence file, folio 31851); Testimony of Jaime Castro Castro, Minister of the Interior at the time of the events, during the public hearing on the merits in this case; Report of the Special Investigative Court (evidence file, folio 30497); Testimony of Belisario Betancourt Cuartas of November 18, 1988, before the Impeachment Committee of the Chamber of Representatives (evidence file, folio 32005); Report of the Truth Commission (evidence file, folios 127, 128, 129 and 139), and Judgment of the Superior Court of Bogota of January 30, 2012 (evidence file, folio 23345). 36