REPORT No. 40/15 CASE 11.482 MERITS NOEL EMIRO OMEARA CARRASCAL, MANUEL GUILLERMO OMEARA MIRAVAL, HECTOR ALVAREZ SÁNCHEZ ET AL. COLOMBIA July 28, 2015 I. SUMMARY 1. On May 4, 1995 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter "the Commission", "the Inter-American Commission" or "the IACHR") received a petition submitted by the Colombian Commission of Jurists (CCJ) 1 (hereinafter "the petitioners") alleging the international responsibility of the Republic of Colombia (hereinafter "the State", "the Colombian State", or "Colombia") for the extrajudicial execution of Noel Emiro Omeara Carrascal, the subsequent forced disappearance and extrajudicial execution of his son, Manuel Guillermo Omeara Miraval and the attempted murder and subsequent death of Héctor Álvarez Sánchez, father-in-law of Manuel Guillermo Omeara, that took place in the municipality of Aguachica, Department of Cesar, between January 28, and October 21, 1994. 2. The petitioners argued that the violations of these three persons’ rights came about as a result of acts perpetrated by paramilitary groups that the State not only failed to prevent but also, on the contrary, occurred with the collaboration of State agents. The petitioners indicated that because of the lack of due diligence in investigating the facts, impunity and risk have lead some of the victims’ families to move away. For its part, the State argued that it is not responsible for the alleged violations since the involvement of its agents in the events has not been proved, that there are judicial proceedings pending and that the victims’ families failed to initiate contentious administrative litigation to claim their right to reparations. 3. After examining the findings of fact and law presented by the parties, the Commission concluded that the State is responsible for the violation of the rights to life and physical integrity set out in Articles 4.1 and 5.1 of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter "the American Convention" or "the Convention") in relation to the obligations under Article 1.1 thereof, to the detriment of Noel Emiro Omeara Carrascal and of Héctor Álvarez Sánchez. It also concluded that the State is responsible for the violation of the rights to legal personality, to life, right to humane treatment and personal liberty established in Articles 3, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2 and 7.1 of the American Convention in relation to the obligations under Article 1.1 thereof, to the detriment of Manuel Guillermo Omeara Miraval. The Commission also found a violation of the rights to physical integrity, judicial guarantees, special protection, protection of the family and the protection of children set out in Articles 5.1, 8.1, 25.1, 17.1 and 19 of the American Convention to the detriment of the families identified in this report. Finally, the Commission also considered the State of Colombia responsible for the violation of Articles 1, 6 and 8 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture, and Article I b) of the American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons to the prejudice of the relatives of Mr. Guillermo Omeara Miraval in the terms described in this report. II. PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION SUBSEQUENT TO ADMISSIBILITY REPORT No. 8/02 4. The Commission declared the case admissible by adopting Report No. 8/02 of February 27, 2002. The procedure from the submission of the petition until the admissibility report is detailed in the above report. After notification of the Report, on March 14, 2002, the Commission made itself available to the parties in order to reach a friendly settlement, and requested a response within one month. On January 21, 2003, the Commission requested that the petitioners submit their arguments on the merits. On January 24, 1 The Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) became a co-petitioner on March 27, 2000. 1