building materials. It further stated that just days prior to his murder, Mr. Carvajal Carvajal had reportedly obtained documents showing that the businessman had ties to a drug and weapons trafficking network in the area. In addition, the petitioner stated that the journalist had a meeting scheduled for the day after his death with the Municipal Ombudsman in order to lodge a complaint against the mayor of Pitalito for the violation of state procurement laws in the purchase of a piece of land. Legal proceedings and threats to Nelson Carvajal’s relatives, witnesses, and investigators in the criminal cases 13. The petitioner alleged that the State failed to comply with its duty to guarantee the rights of the alleged victims and to act with due diligence to investigate, prosecute, and if appropriate, punish the perpetrators of the journalist’s murder. It stated that the investigations conducted were plagued by irregularities, as well as threats and attempts on the lives of witnesses, justice system officials, and relatives of Carvajal Carvajal, and that there was therefore a denial of justice. 14. The petitioner indicated that the attorneys in the case were fearful, and that Nelson Carvajal Carvajal’s relatives were therefore unable to act as civil plaintiffs in the criminal case. According to the petitioner, this prevented Carvajal’s relatives, as victims in the case, from requesting the examination of evidence to prove the acts in question, confirm the identity of the perpetrators and the participants and their responsibility, and to determine the nature and amount of damages or the potential for appealing the court decisions. 15. The IAPA stated that the Fourth Special Prosecutor of Huila, who was handling the case, received threats. It further stated that several participating witnesses whose identities were protected during the proceedings were threatened and their identities were revealed. It also noted that some individuals who had knowledge of the events were threatened in an attempt to keep them from giving statements. 16. The petitioner stated that Judith Carvajal, Nelson Carvajal’s sister, received death threats that were meant to prevent her from providing evidence in the case. It also noted that two attempts were made on her life. The IAPA indicated that those threats were duly reported to the Office of the Public Prosecutor, that she entered into the Victim and Witness Protection Program of the Prosecutor’s Office in April 1999, and that she is now in exile. 17. The petitioner transcribed a statement by Juan Ángel Ortiz, an “absolute trusted friend” of Nelson Carvajal Carvajal’s who had allegedly received multiple threats. Ortiz reportedly stated that he had attempted to testify in the case but was unable to do so because he was being threatened and was not given any protection in order to testify with peace of mind. The petitioner also transcribed a statement given by Lucas Chavarro, a friend of the journalist who stated that he had been threatened by a builder and former town councilman, who had learned of his statement before the Prosecutor’s Office—in spite of the fact that the criminal investigation was confidential. According to the petitioner’s transcription of the complaints alleged by Judith Carvajal, the attorneys for the defendants implicated in the journalist’s murder turned their telephones on so their clients could hear the examination of the witnesses. According to the transcription, the detainees were thus able to identify the witnesses and subsequently threaten them. 18. The IAPA stated that on May 8, 2007 the Prosecutor’s Office acknowledged that Pablo Emilio Bonilla Betancurt, a key witness in the investigation, had been murdered. The Prosecutor’s Office told them that the Witness Protection Office had denied protection to Bonilla Betancurt because he did not meet the requirements. Bonilla Betancurt reportedly would have provided testimony in the review of the acquittals in the case of Nelson Carvajal before the Supreme Court of Justice.