factors, by the use of the banks of its rivers by illegal armed organizations to commit criminal acts, for arms or drug trafficking, or for other reasons such as logging native species, or growing coca, bananas and oil palms. As a result of this, mass forced displacement had taken place in the Urabá region and also in the region of Bajo Atrato; b) In this context, and within the framework of a counterinsurgency operation known as “Operation Genesis” conducted by the Colombian Armed Forces from February 24 to 27, 1997, to halt the advance of the guerrilla groups, a paramilitary operation was mounted in the Cacarica River basin to terrorize the inhabitants of the villages in the area. At that time, Marino López Mena was executed by members of the “Elmer Cárdenas” paramilitary group; c) These events resulted in the displacement of the inhabitants of the communities settled in the area of the Cacarica River, who were obliged to flee owing to the potential danger if they remained there. The proposed beneficiaries are members of the group of persons who were displaced to Turbo, department of Antioquia; 4 d) On May 3, 2000, the Comunidad de Autodeterminación, Vida y Dignidad (“CAVIDA”) [the Self-determination, Life and Dignity Community] was established, composed of various inhabitants of the Cacarica River basin, victims of forced displacement due to the events that occurred from February 24 to 27, 1997; 5 e) The members of CAVIDA and the communities of the Cacarica displaced to Turbo continued to be targeted by threats, harassment and acts of violence, which jeopardized their life and safety; f) Owing to the above, on December 17, 1997, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Commission”) ordered preventive measures in favor of the persons who lived in the camps set up for the displaced in Turbo, and g) More recently, following the public hearing in the case of Marino López et al. v. Colombia at the seat of the Inter-American Court on February 11 and 12, 2013, some of the proposed beneficiaries who appeared at the hearing were subjected to threats and harassment from different individuals on their return to Cacarica. 3. The proceeding on the request for, and adoption of, preventive measures before the Inter-American Commission: a) On December 8, 1997, the Commission made an on-site visit to Colombia in order to observe the region’s human rights situation; b) On December 13, 1997, the Comisión de Justicia y Paz sent the Commission a report on the living conditions of the inhabitants of the camps for the displaced in Turbo; c) In a note of the Commission’s Executive Secretariat of December 17, 1997, the State was asked to adopt preventive measures in favor of the forcibly displaced persons who were living in Turbo, 6 because, during its on-site visit, the Commission had verified directly the acts of violence and harassment perpetrated by members of paramilitary groups against the members of the displaced communities; d) The Commission indicated in its request corresponding to the issue of preventive measures No. 70/97, that: “It was in order to grant preventive measures under Article 29(2) of [its] Rules of Procedure in order to avoid irreparable harm to the persons who live in the camps for the displaced in Turbo. Consequently, the Government is requested: (i) to adopt the necessary measures to investigate the events that occurred to the displaced who live in Turbo; (ii) to take the necessary steps to prevent the entry of armed persons who do not 4 According to the allegations, they were housed in the town’s sports stadium, which the government had organized to receive victims of the armed conflict. 5 The purpose of the community is to carry out “an organizational process that seeks to construct a community life project, with rules for the protection of human life amid the armed conflict; for the protection of the environment, biological wealth and the ecosystems, and […] to avoid loss of identity owing to the displacement.” 6 The beneficiaries were the persons belonging to the camps for the displaced in Turbo, the displaced in the municipal sports stadium, and in the shelters that were built for them; the displaced in Bocas de Atrato; the Afrodescendant communities attached to CAVIDA and resettled in two humanitarian zones in the Cacarica River basin. 2