a. Carry out the relevant investigations, ensuring that evidence is gathered, and logical lines
of investigation are followed up on;
b. Ensure that the investigations are comprehensive, encompassing all the elements
involved in the forced disappearance;
c. Identify the individuals believed to be the instigators and perpetrators of the victim’s
forced disappearance;
d. Ensure that the competent authorities carry out the pertinent investigations ex officio and
that they have available and utilize all the logistical and scientific resources needed to
collect and process the evidence and, specifically, that they have the authority to examine
the relevant documentation and information in order to investigate the acts reported, and
carry out, in a timely manner, the actions and inquiries that are essential to shed light
on what happened to Pedro Julio Movilla Galarcio;
e. In view of the seriousness and continuous or permanent nature of Mr. Movilla’s
disappearance, the State shall not, as a matter of principle and pursuant to the relevant
international law, apply statutes of limitation, nor have recourse to reasons to exclude
responsibility that are an excuse to impede the investigation. 223
200. In accordance with its settled case law, the Court reiterates that the State must ensure
that the victims or their next of kin have full access and the capacity to act during all stages of
the investigation and the prosecution of those responsible. The purpose of their participation
must be access to justice and knowledge of the truth of what happened.224
C) Determination of Mr. Movilla’s whereabouts
201. The Commission asked for the State to be ordered to investigate the fate or whereabouts
of Pedro Julio Movilla Galarcio and, if applicable, to adopt the necessary measures to identify
and hand over the remains to his relatives.
202. The representatives asked the Court to order the State to continue to conduct an
effective search for Pedro Julio Movilla, and locate the victim or his remains as quickly as possible
by means of an appropriate, effective procedure and with due diligence.
203. The State maintained that, together with the Unit for the Search for Disappeared Persons,
actions continued to be carried out in the search for Mr. Movilla as part of the Regional Plan for
the Search for Persons Disappeared by Political Leaders in Bogotá.
204. In the instant case, Pedro Movilla’s whereabouts remain unknown, and the Court has found
that the State has violated the rights to judicial guarantees, to judicial protection, and to the
truth, including in relation to the fact that insufficient efforts have been made to find the victim
(supra paras. 32, 34 and 39, 142 to 148, and 168). The Court underlines the fact that Mr.
Movilla’s forced disappearance took place nearly 29 years ago, so his relatives are entitled to
expect that his whereabouts be identified, which in itself is a measure of reparation, so the State
has an obligation to satisfy it. This also alleviates the anguish and uncertainty suffered by the
relatives.
205. In that regard, the Court takes note of the “search mechanisms” that Colombia mentioned
(supra footnotes 165 and 181). It also observes that witness Moyano, in her oral testimony at
the public hearing, said that Colombia’s “installed capacity includes search teams,” made up of
“highly specialized personnel,” within both judicial bodies and the Prosecutor General’s Office,
Cf. Case of Garzón Guzmán et al. Ecuador, supra, para. 104, and Case of Vásquez Durand et al. v. Ecuador,
supra, para. 203.
224
Cf. Case of the Caracazo v. Venezuela. Reparations and costs. Judgment of August 29, 2002. Series C No. 95,
para. 118 and Case of Maidanik et al. v. Uruguay, supra, para. 213.
223
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