ORDER OF THE
INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
JUNE 3, 1999
PROVISIONAL MEASURES ORDERED BY THE COURT
IN THE MATTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA
CABALLERO DELGADO AND SANTANA CASE
HAVING SEEN:
1.
The April 16, 1997 order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
(hereinafter “the Court”), wherein:
1.
[It] request[ed] the State of Colombia to adopt forthwith, such measures as
may be necessary to protect the lives and physical integrity of Gonzalo Arias-Alturo,
Javier Páez, Guillermo Guerrero-Zambrano, Elida González-Vergel and María Nodelia
Parra, and to prevent them from suffering irreparable damage, in strict compliance with
the obligation to respect and guarantee the human rights, which it undertook under
Article 1(1) of the Convention.
2.
[It] request[ed] the State of Colombia that it investigate the acts of intimidation
to which the persons mentioned in the preceding operative paragraph were subjected
and punish those responsible;
2.
The brief submitted by the State of Colombia [hereinafter “the State”], dated
June 12, 1998, wherein it reported that in March of 1996, Mr. Guillermo Guerrero
Zambrano had expressly waived the Protection Program offered by the Attorney
General’s Office and that Mr. Javier Páez was employed as a public figure’s
bodyguard and hence did not require protection services;
3.
The observations filed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
(hereinafter “the Commission”) on April 27, 1999, in connection with the State’s
eighth report, wherein it informed the Court of Mrs. María Nodelia Parra’s complaints
that her telephone had been tapped, that she had received threatening phone calls
and had been followed by persons on motorcycles. It further reported that on an
unspecified date, Mr. Gonzalo Arias Alturo had reportedly been transferred out of the
prison facility where he was being held and where he “said he felt safe.”
The
Commission also conveyed a request to the Court from the claimants, that an effort
be made to institute a permanent arrangement for negotiation and dialogue among
the beneficiaries of the provisional measures, the State and the claimants
themselves;
4.
The Commission’s May 7, 1999 submission, wherein it stated that:
The fact that beneficiaries [Guillermo] Guerrero and [Javier] Páez have not received any
threats of late, added to their personal situation as described by the State and not
disputed by the claimants, warrants a re-evaluation to determine whether the measures
ordered on their behalf need to be kept in place. The Commission and the claimants,
who were consulted on the matter, are of the view that given the change of
circumstances, it is reasonable to infer that the measures ordered for these persons may
now be lifted.