7 17. That in order to make the rights enshrined in the America Convention effective, the State Party is obliged, erga omnes, to protect all people under its jurisdiction. In the Court’s opinion, said general obligation is imposed not only with regard to the State’s power but also with regard to actions of individual third parties, even irregular armed groups of any nature. The Court observes that given the special characteristics of the present case and the general conditions of irregularity in the area it is necessary to maintain the protection, through provisional measures, of all the members of the Peace Community, in light of that established in the American Convention and the principles of International Humanitarian Law. Specifically, the State must guarantee and ensure that the principle of distinction is guaranteed with regard to the members of the Peace Community, who are civilians oblivious to the internal armed conflict.8 18. That the Court observes how under the protection of the present measures grave acts of violence have occurred against the members of the Peace Community. In this regard, the Constitutional Court of Colombia in its judgment T - 1025 of December 3, 2007, indicated in its ratio decidendi, among others, that: 27. With regard to the events occurred in San José de Apartadó it is evident that the State has not done enough to prevent the community from being the victim of so many crimes. Failure to comply with the duty of protection is very grave. But just as grave is the lack of results in the criminal investigations started due to those crimes. Therefore, the Constitutional Court will proceed to issue a series of orders in seeking to achieve respect of the right of the members of that Community to access justice and know the truth about the crimes, as well as obtain comprehensive reparation. Thus, in first place, it is necessary that the Solicitor General of the Nation prepare a careful, complete, precise, and updated inventory regarding the crimes that have affected the Peace Community, identifying each of the victims by name. For this it can use the database prepared by the Community itself, if it is willing to hand over said information. Based on this result, the Prosecutor’s Office must (i) establish which is the current state of all the criminal procedures in process due to the crimes committed against members of the Peace Community or people that offered them services. This task includes knowing the total number of processes, who the prosecutors that are following the investigations are, which is the latest progress, and the date on which the crimes occurred; (ii) establish what crimes are not yet being the object of criminal persecution, in order to open the corresponding procedures; (iii) identify the investigations at a standstill, in order to impulse them; and (iv) define priorities in such a way that the parties responsible for the most grave crimes are in effect punished. A report on these activities must be sent to the Review Chamber and the Ombudsman no later than the first day of March 2008. Second, it is necessary that the Prosecution establish the processes in progress before the military criminal justice system due to crimes of which the members of the Peace Community or the people that offer them services were victims, so it may decide in which cases, according to the criminal norms in force and the jurisprudence of this Corporation, it must propose a collision of competence so that the Prosecutors’ Office may assume the corresponding investigation. It must also establish which has been the fate of the processes in which the Prosecutors’ Office has issued an accusation and sent the procedure to the competent criminal judges. A report must be sent to the Chamber of Review and the Ombudsman regarding the result of these activities no later than the first day of March 2008. […]” 19. That the Inter-American Court values the decision of the Constitutional Court of Colombia, since the sense and scope of the same adjusts to the object of protection of the present measures and helps in the implementation of the same. In this sense, this 8 Cfr., inter alia, Matter of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, supra note 6, Considering clauses number nine and twenty, and Matter of the Communities of Jiguamiandó and Curbaradó. Provisional Measures regarding Colombia. Order of March 15, 2005, Considering Clauses number eight and twenty-eight.

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