the explosions, some community members stampeded toward the mountainous part of land, where they met with units involved in the military operation that were surrounding settlement. For 20 minutes the armed men fired their weapons and threw grenades at roofs of their homes, while others ransacked houses, shops, and barns. They also sprayed community’s outboard motors with machinegun fire and set fire to an electricity plant. the the the the 16. The petitioners claim that at around 1:30 p.m., the armed men forced the members of the community to gather in the schoolhouse, where they were told that they had three days to abandon their lands. When asked about the reason for the eviction, they replied that those were the orders they had and that “if they were not out in three days, [they] would not be responsible for the consequences.” 17. The petitioners claim that the next day, February 27, 1997, the armed men tortured and decapitated Marino López Mean. The petitioners state that members of the military and paramilitaries then kicked it on repeated occasions, as if it were a football match, following which they invited the members of the community of Bijao who saw the incident to join in the game. 18. The petitioners claim that during the morning hours of February 27, 1997, armed men wearing the insignia of the Voltigeros Battalion of Brigade XVII and of the ACCU entered the community of Bocas del Limón, on the banks of the River Peranchito; they ordered the Afrodescendants to abandon their homes for 15 days and said that the National Police was waiting for them in Turbo. The petitioners report that as the meeting was taking place, the armed men burned down two homes and a small store belonging to the community’s Women’s Committee. They also ransacked community property and left slogans on the walls of the houses, with pictures of skulls and the legend “Death to the Guerrillas. Sincerely, ACCU. The Ox.” Before leaving, the armed men made a threat: “In four days time, if we find anyone here, we’ll cut their heads off.” 19. The petitioners claim that the first three displacements in the communities of Bocachica, Teguerré, Villa Hermosa, Bijao-Cacarica, El Limón, Quebrada Bonita, and Barranquilla were followed by others in the remaining villages. By February 28, 1997, almost 2,500 people had been displaced from the Cacarica area to Turbo, Bocas del Atrato, and Panama. Very few residents decided to remain in the Cacarica basin. 20. The displaced persons who decided to take refuge in Turbo were first taken there by police units in trucks and animal carts. A large percentage gathered together at the sports stadium, where they remained for several months in conditions of subhuman overcrowding. In turn, the people of Bijao, Puente América, La Honda, and El Limón who were unable to reach Turbo took refuge in Bocas del Atrato, where they were initially given shelter in a schoolroom. Those who tried to return to the Cacarica area met with a military checkpoint at La Loma. Another group of 250 residents – mostly women and children – reached the border with Panama after a 15day hike through the jungle, during which several parents were separated from their offspring and some children were lost in the undergrowth. The petitioners report that this group was illegally deported in April 1997 and returned to Colombia at the town of Bahía Cupica. 21. The petitioners hold that these incidents constitute violations of the right to life and to human treatment, of the rights of family and children, of property, of freedom from expulsion, and the right of judicial protection, as enshrined in the American Convention, as well as of the State’s duty of upholding those rights. They also allege a violation of the obligation of ensuring the immediate and ex officio investigation of acts of torture inflicted on persons under state jurisdiction, in accordance with Articles 1 and 8 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture. In their initial filing the petitioners also referred to the State’s alleged responsibility for violating 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. 22. They maintain that their claim meets the admissibility requirements. As regards the prior exhaustion of domestic remedies, they state that in the instant case, the exceptions provided 4