d) references made to Press Release 001 issued by the National Police, where the victims were said to be guerrilla fighters, have been redressed by the State through judgments of the State Council, which are public and highlighted that none of the five victims carried out illegal activities; through explicit acknowledgment of responsibility by the State; through the judgment on the merits issued by the Inter-American Court, and through publicity of the case in the national and international press. The publicity measures requested are not proportional to the damage that said press release might have caused; and e) with respect to the request regarding recovery of the memory of N.N./Moisés, the State considers that domestic criminal proceedings established that he was a FARC - EP guerrilla fighter who was captured alive and, subsequently, summarily executed, for which the State already acknowledged its responsibility. Considerations of the Court 65. The Court has carefully studied the statements and arguments of the parties regarding guarantees of non-recidivism and measures of satisfaction. 66. As regards the request for the Court to declare that Colombia must investigate and punish the authors of the facts in the instant case, this Court must first state that the American Convention guarantees all persons’ access to justice to protect their rights, and that it is the duty of the States Party to prevent and investigate human rights violations and to identify and punish their perpetrators and the accessories after the fact.82 In other words, all human rights violations involve the duty of the State to conduct an effective investigation to identify the persons responsible of the violations and, if that were the case, to punish them. 67. Therefore, the State has the obligation to effectively complete the ongoing criminal proceedings with respect to the facts pertaining to the death of the victims and that generated the violations of the American Convention in the instant case, to identify the principals, as well as possible accessories after the fact, and to punish them. The results of the proceeding must be made known to the public, for Colombian society to know the truth. 68. States should not argue lack of procedural activity by the interested parties as a reason for not fulfilling their obligations, under the Convention, to investigate and punish human rights violations. In the instant case, the duty of the State to investigate, identify, and punish those responsible within the ongoing criminal proceeding (supra para. 35.n), is an obligation under the Convention which the State must fulfill and carry out ex officio in an effective way, whether the victims or their representatives do or do not exercise the capacities foreseen by domestic legislation for them to participate in the proceedings opened to that effect. 82 Cf. El Caracazo Case. Reparations, supra note 2, para. 115; Trujillo Oroza Case. Reparations, supra note 2, para. 99; and Bámaca Velásquez Case. Reparations, supra note 2, para. 75.

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