6
that the ICJP contributed information about “different defamatory mails
received against the organization and its members,” and that “in recent
days,” “graffiti in the center of Bogotá, reading ‘NGO Justice and Peace =
Death to the Marxist Priest,’ ‘National Action AR – NR,’ and ‘NGO Justice and
Peace Terrorists,’ was visible”; and,
c)
On the third point, the ICJP provided information that “the intelligence
offensives, as well as these attempted attacks make the continuity of human
rights work next to impossible for the victims of such attacks throughout the
country and especially in the Bajo Atrato region,” and that “the situation in
the field is more complex ‘owing to pressure from paramilitary groups.’”
7.
The communication of May 6, 2010 whereby, pursuant to the instructions of
the President of the Court, the Secretariat requested that the State present its
relevant observations on the Commission’s written submission (supra Having Seen
6).
8.
The communication from the Secretariat of May 24, 2010 whereby, according
to the President’s instructions, the Inter-American Commission was asked to indicate
the names of the members of the ICJP that it considered to be in need of protection
in the form of provisional measures and to indicate the situation of extreme gravity,
urgency, and the need to avoid irreparable harm in which each one of the members
were found. Likewise, by way of this communication, the State was informed that
once the Commission responded with the information solicited by the Court, the
State would be granted an opportunity in which to present its observations on the
request for provisional measures, on the “new information” submitted, as well as on
the information requested by the Court (supra Having Seen 1, 6).
9.
The communication of May 25, 2010 whereby the State moved that the
request for provisional measures submitted by the Inter-American Commission be
rejected. Particularly, the State indicated that:
a)
With respect to the alleged intelligence activities against the ICJP and
its members, the State said that “it has never, as a matter of government
policy, undertaken illegal intelligence activities against individuals or
opposition groups,” and that “the alleged illegal intelligence activities
committed by some members of the DAS have not been at any point in time
the product or consequence of accusations made on the part of the High
Government, given that this government has been a steadfast guarantor of
the work of [h]uman [r]ights [o]rganizations.” The State elucidated that the
alleged illegal intelligence activities “reflect[ed] certain irregularities that
appeared in that particular period,” that “various High Government officials
have also been victims of these illegal activities,” and that “presently there
[...] are guarantees that they will not happen again […] against human rights
defenders in Colombia.”
In addition, the State made reference to the
pronouncements made by “the High Government” in which it “fervently
reject[ed] these sorts of practices and hope[d] […] to clarify these alleged
criminal acts so as to determine the responsibility of the DAS officials involved
[...].” On that matter, the State indicated that “it was the same National
Government that promoted the legislative initiative of issuing an Intelligence
Law.”
The State also referred to the ongoing investigations into the
aforementioned acts. In relation to the immigration records alluded to by the
Commission, the State noted that “[the investigations] [did] not constitute