the petition and submits figures taken from an official census that should identify them in full. In addition, as the State is aware, the case file dealing with precautionary measures MC 70/99 – which, at the State’s own request, is being considered as part of these proceedings – contains proof of the identity of the beneficiary community that has grouped together a substantial proportion of the individuals displaced by the incidents under study in this report. It should be noted that the case file contains elements for the individual identification of most of the persons affected by the alleged actions. 37. In consideration of the above, the Commission believes that it has competence to examine the claim as filed, as regards the possible violation of both the rights of Mr. Marino López and those of the victims of the displacement of the communities of Puente América, Bijao– Cacarica, Quebrada del Medio, Bogotá, Barranquilla, El Limón–Peranchito, Santa Lucía, Las Pajas, Quebrada Bonita, La Virginia, Villa Hermosa–La Raya, San Higinio, Puerto Berlín, Puerto Nuevo, Montañita Cirilo, Bocachica, Balsagira, San José de la Balsa, La Balsa, Bendito Bocachico, Varsovia, and Tequerré Medio, in that they are individual persons with respect to whom the Colombian State had agreed to respect and ensure the rights enshrined in the American Convention. 38. Having said that, it should also be noted that collective claims alleging violations of the rights of particularly vulnerable groups, which include communities of African descent, warrant special treatment. In the case under examination, the individual identification of the victims vis-à-vis the Commission’s competence to examine the merits of the claim must acknowledge the victims’ status as Afro-descendants, their form of community existence, and their collective landholding mechanisms, together with the predominance of women21 and children among the displaced population. 39. The Commission has competence ratione materiae and ratione temporis for examining the allegations of possible violations of human rights protected by the American Convention and the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture22 submitted by the petitioners. Colombia has been a party to the American Convention since July 31, 1973, when it deposited the corresponding instrument of ratification; it has also been a party to the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture since January 19, 1999, when it deposited the corresponding instrument of ratification. With respect to this latter instrument, the petitioners’ claim is limited to the obligation of ensuring the immediate, ex officioinvestigation of acts of torture committed against persons under the jurisdiction of the state, pursuant to Articles 1 and 8 thereof. Given the date of the Colombian State’s ratification of the Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture, determining responsibility for acts of torture or inhumane treatment suffered by the alleged victims in the instant case is covered by Article 5 of the American Convention. 40. The petitioners have made claims regarding the State’s alleged responsibility for violations of other international instruments. Specifically, they cite the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, the International Convention against Torture, and the International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. In response, the State holds that the Commission is not competent to rule on its responsibility for violations of those instruments, which do not award jurisdiction for their oversight to the bodies of the inter-American system. 41. On this matter, the Commission notes that, as stated by the Court with respect to the exercise of its jurisdiction, while there is no assignation of competence for declaring that a 21 Women account for approximately half of Colombia’s displaced persons, and the government has acknowledged that four out every ten displaced families are headed by women. See: United Nations Development Fund for Women, Report on the Situation of Women in Colombia, September 2005, p. 20; Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Balance de la Política Pública de Prevención, Protección y Atención al Desplazamiento Interno Forzado en Colombia (agosto 2002 – 2004), Bogotá, Colombia, December 2004, p. 110. 22 Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture, adopted in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, on December 9, 1985, at the 15th regular session of the OAS General Assembly, STOEA No.° 67; in force since February 28, 1987, in accordance with Article 22. Basic Documents Pertaining to Human Rights in the Inter-American System, OEA/Ser.L/V/I.4 rev.9, January 31, 2003. 9