REPORT No. 86/13 CASES 12.595, 12.596 and 12.621 MERITS ANA TERESA YARCE ET AL.* COMUNA 13 COLOMBIA1 November 4, 2013 I. SUMMARY 1. On October 25, 2004, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Commission” or “the IACHR”) received a petition lodged by the Inter-Disciplinary Group for Human Rights (hereinafter “the petitioners) in which it is alleged that members of paramilitary groups, acting with the acquiescence and participation of agents from the Colombian State (hereinafter “the State,” “the Colombian State” or “Colombia”), harassed, threatened and usurped the property of Luz Dary Ospina Bastidas and her family in Comuna 13, Department of Antioquia, causing their forced displacement between November 2002 and June 2003. In its Admissibility Report No. 4/07, the Commission declared the case admissible with respect to the alleged violation of articles 5(1) (right to personal integrity), 8(1) (right to judicial guarantees), 16 (freedom of association), 21(1) (right to private property), 21(2), 22(1) (freedom of movement and residence) and 25 (judicial protection) of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter “the American Convention” or “the Convention”), in conjunction with articles 1(1) and 27(1) thereof. 2. On October 27, 2004, the Commission received a second petition by the same petitioners alleging that members of paramilitary groups, acting with the acquiescence and participation of agents of the Republic of Colombia, threatened and usurped the property of Miryam Eugenia Rúa Figueroa and her family in the Comuna 13 in Medellín, Department of Antioquia, causing their forced displacement in June 2002. In its Admissibility Report No. 3/07, the Commission declared the case admissible with respect to the alleged violation of articles 5(1) (right to personal integrity); 8(1) (right to judicial guarantees); 16 (freedom of association); 19 (rights of the child); 21(1) (right to private property); 22(1) and 22(2) (freedom of movement and residence) and 25 (judicial protection) of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) of said instrument. 3. On March 7, 2005, the Commission received a third petition lodged by the same petitioners, in which they accused the State of responsibility in the alleged arbitrary detention of community leaders Ana Teresa Yarce, María del Socorro Mosquera Londoño, and Mery del Socorro Naranjo Jiménez –all of whom served on the Community Action Board of the Independencias III Neighborhood in Medellín’s Comuna 13-- in November 2002, and the death of Ana Teresa Yarce on October 6, 2004. In its Admissibility Report No. 46/07, the Commission declared the petition admissible with respect to the alleged violations of articles 5(1), 7(1), 7(3) (right to personal liberty), 8(1), 11 (the right to have one’s honor respected and one’s dignity recognized), 16, 17(1) (protection of the family), *By communication of February 15, 2013, the petitioners asked that the victims in the instant case be listed in such a manner that Ms. Ana Teresa Yarce would be the first named. They consider that such a gesture contributes to keeping her memory alive, seeing as she lost her life in the context of the events that are the subject matter of this case. 1 According to Article 17(2) of the Commission’s Rules of Procedure, Commissioner Rodrigo Escobar Gil, a Colombian national, did not participate in the discussion of and decision on this case.