leaders to be executed, the alleged disappearance and extrajudicial executions, [and] the
alleged paramilitary presence with the State’s acquiescence, among other elements, are
extremely serious.” In addition, regarding the extreme urgency, it indicated that “the
absence of guarantees of adequate and effective measures of protection is a fundamental
element to be taken into consideration.” Also, it stated that the “nature of the rights that
are under threat, in other words, the right to life and physical integrity of the beneficiaries,
constitutes the requirement of irreparability of the consequences that maintaining the
provisional measures seeks to avoid.” In this regard, the Commission indicated that,
although the State had taken “some measures” for the protection of the beneficiaries, these
had not been effective, and that the State had not presented information that proved that
the situation that gave rise to these provisional measures had been overcome. In its
communication of January 25, 2013 (supra having seen paragraph 6), the Commission
mentioned that, in Decision 299 of December 18, 2012, the Constitutional Court of
Colombia had indicated that there were still security problems related to the situation of
public order in the area of the communities of the Jiguamiandó and of the Curvaradó and to
the “tensions relating to the restitution process,” which required the adoption of preventive
mechanisms. In this regard, in its brief of May 10, 2013 (supra having seen paragraph 6), it
indicated that “the actual situation of extreme gravity and urgency [was] also demonstrated
by […] the November 2012 visit of an international verification commission, [which verified]
the actions of the paramilitary groups against the communities. Lastly, the Commission took
note of the information presented by the State in relation to the action plan that the Urabá
Police Department had prepared, but considered that the “information presented, without
the respective documentary support, [was] insufficient to show that the situation of extreme
gravity and danger of the beneficiaries of the measures had been surmounted.”
44.
In conclusion, the Commission found that it was not sufficient that the State had
taken certain measures; rather these had to be effective to respond to the situation of
extreme gravity, risk and irreparability of the damage. In this regard, from the information
presented during the processing of these provisional measures, as well as from the
consideration of the Constitutional Court of Colombia, the Commission considered that the
provisional measures should be kept in force.
E.4.
Considerations of the Inter-American Court
45. The State has requested the lifting of the provisional measures based on the
principle of subsidiarity contained in the Preamble to the American Convention. It indicated
that, under Colombian law and also the orders of the Constitutional Court, the State has the
obligation to adopt measures of protection in favor of all the members of the communities of
the Jiguamiandó and of the Curvaradó, including the beneficiaries of these provisional
measures. In conclusion, the State argued that it is providing protection to the beneficiaries
by means of the internal mechanisms established to this end. On the other hand, the InterAmerican Commission and the representatives indicated that the validity of the provisional
measures should be evaluated based on whether the risk factors that gave rise to them
subsist and whether the situation of extreme gravity and urgency and the risk of irreparable
damage continues, pursuant to Article 63(2) of the Convention. Both the latter concluded
that, throughout the processing of the provisional measures, they had advised the Court of
facts that constituted the said requirements, so that the situation of risk for the beneficiaries
continued. Consequently, they considered that the provisional measures should not be
lifted.
46.
On several occasions the Court has established that, when ordering measures of
protection, the Court’s standard of assessment of these requirements is prima facie, and, at
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