ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS OF MARCH 23, 1998 PROVISIONAL MEASURES REQUESTED BY THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE MATTER OF THE STATE OF COLOMBIA CLEMENTE TEHERAN ET AL. CASE HAVING SEEN: 1. The March 18, 1998, brief and it’s annexes, by which the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Commission” or “the Inter-American Commission) submitted to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in virtue of Articles 63(2) of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Convention” or the American Convention”), 25 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court (hereinafter “Rules of Procedure”) and 76 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission, a request for provisional measures on behalf of Rosember Clemente Teheran, Armando Mercado, Nilson Zurita Mendoza (“Nilson Zurita Suárez”, according to a list on page 4 of the petition), Edilberto Gaspar Rosario, Dorancel Ortiz, Leovigildo Castillo, Santiago Méndez (“Santiago Mendoza”, according to the mentioned list), Zoila Riondo, Saul Lucas, José Guillermo Carmona (“José Guillermo Cardona”, according to the mentioned list), Celedonio Padilla, Eudo Mejía Montalvo, Marcelino Suárez Lazaro, Fabio Antonio Guevara, José Luis Mendoza, Misael Suárez Estrada, Ingilberto M. Pérez, Martín Florez, Jacinto Ortíz Quintero, Juan Antonio Almanza Pacheco, José Carpio Beltran and Luis Felipe Alvarez Polo, relative to Case No. 11.858 against the State of Colombia (hereinafter “the State” or “Colombia”) before the Commission. 2. The activities conducted by the Indigenous Zenú Community of San Andrés de Sotavento (hereinafter “indigenous Zenú community”) and the acts of those members who, according to the request of the Commission, have been victims of “groups of paramilitary forces that act under the auspices of large property owners and ranchers of the region and with the tolerance or under the auspices of the public security forces”. CONSIDERING: 1. That Colombia has been a State Party to the American Convention since July 31, 1973, and that it accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court on June 21, 1985. 2. That Article 63(2) of the Convention establishes that the Court may, in cases “of extreme gravity and urgency, and when necessary to avoid irreparable damage to persons”, take the provisional measures it considers pertinent in matters not yet submitted before it at the request of the Commission. 3. That in the terms of Article 25(4) of the Rules of Procedure: