3 Commission to the Government...encompassed Islena Rey Rodríguez, Sister Noemy Palencia, and Gonzalo Zárate, and other members of the Department of Meta Committee on Human Rights, including Josué Giraldo Cardona. The measures requested by the Commission did not include Mariela Giraldo, wife of Josué Giraldo Cardona, or their two young children, Sara and Natalia. Given the extreme urgency of the situation and the fact that the precautionary measures of the Commission had not worked to protect Josué Giraldo Cardona, the Commission decided not to request precautionary measures on behalf of these persons after the murder of Mr. Giraldo, petitioning instead directly to the Court for the adoption of provisional measures, in accordance with Article 63(2) of the Convention. CONSIDERING: 1. That Colombia has been a State Party to the American Convention since July 31, 1973 and that it accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court on June 21, 1985. 2. That Article 63(2) of the American Convention provides that, in cases of “extreme gravity and urgency, and when necessary to avoid irreparable damage to persons,” the Court, in matters not yet submitted to it, may, at the request of the Commission, take the provisional measures it considers pertinent. 3. That in the terms of Article 24(4) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court: “[i]f the Court is not sitting, the President, in consultation with the Permanent Commission and if possible, with the other judges, shall call upon the government concerned to adopt such urgent measures as may be necessary to ensure the effectiveness of any provisional measures subsequently ordered by the Court at its next session”. 4. That Article 1(1) of the Convention sets forth the obligation of the States Parties to respect the rights and freedoms recognized in this treaty and to ensure to all persons subject to their jurisdiction the free and full exercise of those rights and freedoms. 5. That the violent past and the new violent events and aggression against the members of the Meta Civic Committee of Human Rights, occurring since 1992, constitute a situation of imminent and grave danger to the members of said Committee. 6. That the Inter-American Commission had requested precautionary measures which “have proven not to be efficient or to have produced the required effects, given that no effective protection for the life and personal integrity of the members of the Civic Committee was provided, particularly for its President, murdered on October 13” of this year and, for this reason, the present exceptional circumstances make it necessary to order urgent measures to avoid irreparable damage not only to the members of the Committee but also to the family members of Josué Giraldo Cardona. 7. That it is the responsibility of the Government to adopt security measures for all of its citizens, an obligation that should be yet greater in regards to those who are involved in matters before organs of the Inter-American system for the protection of human rights. 8. That similarly, the Government of Colombia has the obligation to investigate the events that motivated this request for provisional measures in order to identify those responsible and to impose the appropriate sanction, particularly in regards to the murder of Josué Giraldo Cardona.