ORDER OF THE
INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
OF JANUARY 29, 1999
PROVISIONAL MEASURES REQUESTED
BY THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
IN THE MATTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA
CLEMENTE TEHERÁN ET AL. CASE
HAVING SEEN:
1.
The Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the
Court” or “the Inter-American Court”) of June 19, 1998.
2.
The fourth report of the State of Colombia (hereinafter “the State” or
“Colombia”) of October 9, 1998, in which it asserted that the State was undertaking
educational activities and fulfilling its duties of vigilance and control in order to
provide the Zenú Indigenous Community (hereinafter “the Community”) better
security; that it had investigated the denounced acts and punished the persons
responsible for the acts of violence against the members of the Community, and that
it requested that the normal processing of this case be continued before the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Commission”) inasmuch as
the premises of Article 63(2) of the American Convention on Human Rights
(hereinafter “the Convention”) were not present.
3.
The fifth report of the State dated December 15, 1998, by means of which it
stated:
a)
With respect to the communications between the State and the community: that
meetings were held periodically between the national and local authorities and the members of
the Community for the purpose of dealing with their different plans.
b)
With respect to the persons protected: that on October 26, 27, and 28, 1998, a Zenú
indigenous conference took place in the Community of Bajo Grande, in the jurisdiction of the
Municipality of San Andrés de Sotavento, under the protection of the National Police; that at this
conference “guidelines were set for internal elections”; that on October 30, 1998, in the
installations of the National Police of San Andrés de Sotavento, the Communications Network of
Zenú Protection was formally inaugurated, an event that was attended by departmental and local
authorities and a large part of the community, “which expressed its appreciation for the efforts
made by the National Government”; that two portable radios were given to Marcelino Suárez,
Head Chief, and Nilson Manuel Zurita, Indigenous Councillor; that the Department of the Interior
expressed its preoccupation concerning “the improper behavior” of Councillor Nilson Zurita, who
has failed to comply with the recommendations made by the Protection Program of that
Department, knowing that, in accordance with the regulations of that program, his neglect of the
recommendations authorizes the “Committee of Regulations and Evaluation of Risks” to suspend
or definitely take away the measures of protection; that the State has made great efforts without
sparing resources, for the purpose of preserving the life and physical safety of the members of
the Community and improving the quality of life and the expansion of protection, and that the
“programs of assistance to the Community” offered by the State have been developed without
any setbacks, a situation recognized by the indigenous authorities and the population in general.