19. The petitioner stated that nine relatives2 of Carvajal’s were granted refugee status and the right to asylum. It indicated that the departure of Carvajal’s relatives from the country was due to “persecution as a result of demanding justice for the murder.” The petitioner also affirmed that the Office of the Prosecutor General acknowledged the persecution and threats against Judith Carvajal Carvajal and her brother Fernando Augusto Carvajal Carvajal. According to the petitioner, the Prosecutor’s Office was of the opinion that Judith Carvajal Carvajal and her immediate family faced serious risk, given her brother’s journalistic work. The Prosecutor’s Office specified that the defendants were politically and economically powerful, and that they had ties to paramilitary and drug trafficking organizations. It also stated that the Office of the Prosecutor General documented the threats against Nelson Carvajal’s sister Ruth Dary Carvajal in the case file, and asked the National Police to provide security measures to the family members. According to the IAPA, the acts of intimidation increased following the arrest and detention of one of the defendants on August 29, 2008. 20. In addition, the petitioner stated that the competent authorities committed several irregularities during the case, both in the prosecution’s investigation and in the court’s assessment of the evidence that prevented the judicial proceedings from leading to the identification and punishment of the perpetrators. The petitioner stated that the lead prosecutor in the case was changed up to four times and that the personnel in charge of conducting the crime scene analysis were neither diligent nor thorough in the collection of evidence. It alleged that the report submitted by those investigators was routine and that the only evidence they gathered was a bullet nose and six shell casings that were found near the body. Similarly, the petitioner stated that law enforcement officials lost contact with the only person identified in a lineup as the alleged direct perpetrator of the murder—in spite of the fact that he was initially named as a suspect— and the investigation against him was later dropped. 21. The petitioner further indicated that the Technical Unit of the Prosecutor’s Office failed to explore various theories regarding the perpetration of the homicide. The IAPA cited the statements of a judicial employee and a Special Prosecutor indicating that the persons in charge of the investigation failed to pursue other avenues that also should have been exhausted. According to the petitioner, the Prosecutor’s Office did not give credence to the theory that the FARC was involved. 22. For all of the above reasons, they asked the IACHR to declare that the State violated the rights to life, a fair trial, freedom of thought and expression, and judicial protection, enshrined in Articles 4, 8, 13, and 25 of the American Convention, in conjunction with the general obligation to respect rights provided for in Article 1(1) thereto, to the detriment of Carvajal Carvajal and his relatives. B. Position of the State Alleged violation of Articles 8(1) and 25 of the Convention 23. The Colombian State asserted that it has complied with the obligations derived from Articles 8 and 25 of the Convention. It stated that the criminal investigation was conducted seriously, with a view to establishing the facts and identifying, prosecuting, and punishing the perpetrators, and with full respect for the due process guarantees enshrined in Articles 8 and 25 of the Convention. 24. The State indicated that once the events took place, an investigation was opened by a District Office of the Public Prosecutor in Pitalito, and later forwarded for jurisdictional reasons to the Terrorism Unit of the Office of the Prosecutor General. It stated that just eight months after the acts occurred, an order was issued on December 29, 1998 naming 3 individuals as the masterminds of the crime, and 2 individuals as the direct perpetrators. It was ordered that of the defendants be held in pretrial detention. 2 Paola Andrea Carvajal Bolaños and María Alejandra Carvajal Bolaños (daughters); Luz Stella Bolaños Rodríguez (spouse); Judith Carvajal Carvajal, Gloria Mercedes Carvajal Carvajal, Ruth Dary Carvajal Carvajal, and Fernando Augusto Carvajal Carvajal (siblings); Cristhian Camilo Motta Carvajal and César Augusto Meneses Carvajal (nephews).