4 negotiations with the Office of the Deputy Attorney General of the Nation and the Office of the Assistant Prosecutor for the Military Force. Extrajudicial measures included the remedy of public complaint and protest. 15. The Commission states that on April 4, 1989, “acting on a request for urgent action from a reliable source, [. . .] before receiving a formal communication from the petitioners, the Commission, motu proprio, forwarded to the Government the complaint [. . .] [and] request[ed] that extraordinary measures be taken to protect the life and personal safety” of the victims. On April 5 of that same year, the Commission received the formal petition from the petitioners, which it processed under Nº 10.319. On September 26, 1991, the Commission issued Report Nº 31/91, the operative paragraphs of which read as follows: 1. That the Government of Colombia has failed to honor its obligation to respect and guarantee Article 4 (right to life), Article 5 (right to humane treatment), Article 7 (right to personal liberty), and Article 25 (on judicial protection), in relation to Article 1(1), upheld in the American Convention on Human Rights, to which Colombia is a State Party, in respect of the kidnapping and subsequent disappearance of Isidro Caballero-Delgado and María del Carmen Santana. 2. That Colombia must pay compensatory damages to the victims’ next of kin. 3. To recommend to the Government of Colombia that it continue the investigations until those responsible have been identified and punished, thereby avoiding the consummation of acts of serious impunity that transgress the very bases of the legal system. 4. To request the Government of Colombia to guarantee the safety of the eyewitnesses to the events and give them the necessary protection, as they have risked their lives to provide their valuable and courageous cooperation in the efforts to ascertain the facts. 5. To include this report in the forthcoming Annual Report to the General Assembly of the Organization of American States should no reply be received within 90 days of this report. 6. To transmit this report to the Government of Colombia and to the petitioner, neither of which is authorized to publish it. 16. In a note from the Government to the Commission dated January 16, 1992, the latter was asked to “reconsider these reports, pursuant to Article 54 of the Regulations of the Commission” on the ground that “activities had been carried out by the various government agencies in charge of criminal and disciplinary matters with a view to broadening their investigations and thus complying with the recommendations of that Honorable Commission.” In a communication dated February 18, the Executive Secretary of the Commission informed the Government of the Commission’s decision to “confirm the reports previously approved by the Commission, postponing the decision as to the publication thereof until the next session.” In a communication dated February 24, the Government, in turn, asked for a clarification of the phrase “‘confirm the reports previously approved by the Commission,’ to determine whether the reconsideration requested by Colombia in cases 10.319, 10.454, and 10.581 has been decided upon and, if so, to obtain the authentic text of the pertinent decision, if such a decision has been issued.” The President of the Commission replied to the Government’s request on February 28, in the following terms: [t]he Commission has agreed to postpone its final decision on Reports Nos. 31, 32, and 33/91, which had been approved during its 80th Session, taking into account the arguments presented by the Government of Colombia and the assurances of its willingness to cooperate with the Inter-American Commission. In no way, however, does that decision imply that the reports already approved by the Commission during the month of September, 1991, are no longer in effect. Rather, the decision regarding their adoption as final reports has been suspended, precisely in order to provide the Government of Colombia with a new opportunity to effectively comply with the concrete recommendations contained therein.