The facts of this case concern the massacres that occurred in June 1996 and October 1997 in the small towns of La Granja and El Aro, respectively, in the Ituango province, Antioquia region. The selective murder of 19 farmers, among them 1 child and 3 women, was a result of the paramilitary incursion which took place in both small towns with the support and acquiescence of members of the security forces. Many of these people were tortured before being murdered, their homes were raided, and a large part of the town centre was destroyed, forcing the mass displacement of more than 700 rural people.

The facts of this case illustrate the serious human rights violations suffered by the civil population in the framework of the Colombian Armed Conflict, as a result of the joint actions between paramilitary groups and security forces. In this regard, the IA Court specifically referred to the negative effects suffered by the population as a consequence of the destruction and burning of homes and the subsequent forced mass displacement that the victims suffered, and set a case law precedent regarding the right to honor and dignity and freedom from slavery and servitude.

The IA Court determined the State’s responsibility for having favored the creation of “paramilitary” self-defense groups and thereby having created a situation of risk for its inhabitants and not having adopted the necessary nor sufficient measures to avoid the perpetration of these massacres.