10 militia associated with the guerrilla organizations. Several neighborhoods of Comuna 13 had a prolific social and community movement that denounced the collusion between the official forces and the paramilitary groups, which was made clear with the plans to legalize the Cacique Nutibara Bloc and establish its new center of operations in Comuna 13. 40. The petitioners further allege noncompliance with the obligation not to suspend nonderogable rights, provided for in Article 27 of the American Convention. They contend that at the time the alleged violations occurred, President Uribe had decreed a state of emergency throughout Colombian territory on August 11, 2002. They consider that the State violated Article 27 of the American Convention not for declaring a state of internal commotion (estado de conmoción interior), but for suspending rights that could not be suspended in carrying out the measures taken in the context of that decree. They state specifically that under those circumstances, the national government authorized the Army and the police to exercise judicial police functions, authorities not given them by law; despite repeated complaints, the national government took no steps to put an end to the systematic unlawful searches, murders, disappearances and forced displacements in an area under the complete control of the State’s security forces. They maintain that even in the direst of circumstances, the State has an obligation to respect the most elementary standards of legality and proportionality that ensure proper observance of human rights, which did not happen in this case. Case 12.595 – Specific allegations - Miryam Eugenia Rúa Figueroa et al. 41. Ms. Miryam Eugenia Rúa Figueroa served as Chair of the Community Action Board and since 1989 had been a community leader in the Barrio Nuevo sector, San Javier La Loma in Comuna 13. She lived in a house she owned, with her partner, Gustavo de Jesús Tobón, and her three children, all minors at the time: Bárbara del Sol Palacios Rúa, Úrsula Manuela Palacios Rúa, and Valentina Estefanía Tobón Rúa. 42. The petitioners report that Mrs. Rúa Figueroa was told by a neighbor in Barrio Nuevo – La Loma that her name was on a list of persons that the paramilitaries planned to assassinate. Therefore, on June 26, 2002, she left the neighborhood with her daughters and her partner. They left their home without anything, save for some articles of clothing for the daughters. They had no place to go and no money to pay rent in another neighborhood. However, they found shelter in the home of family members who lived in the Municipality of Bello. The petitioners state that Mrs. Rúa and her family have been displaced ever since and have been unable to return to the neighborhood because of the difficult security situation in the area. The petitioners state that they know of a number of people who have returned to the neighborhood only to be disappeared or found dead elsewhere in the city of Medellín. Such stories prevent Mrs. Rúa from returning to her neighborhood indefinitely. 43. The petitioners state that thereafter, on June 27, 2002, there was an outbreak of paramilitary violence everywhere in the area. Informed by her neighbors, Mrs. Rúa learned that her home had been taken over as it was known to be the home of the Chair of the Community Action Board. The petitioners allege that the house was destroyed gradually and piece by piece; the furnishings in it were taken, as were all the parts of the structure (windows, doors, toilet, etc.). 44. Having been forcibly displaced and exposed to great danger because of the office she held, Mrs. Rúa Figueroa had no alternative but to resign as chair of the Board. And while she never officially notified the Office of the Mayor of Medellín that she had decided to resign, she was nonetheless replaced by the person who had been the Board’s Vice Chair.