REPORT Nº 05/03 PETITION 0519/01 ADMISSIBILITY JESÚS MARÍA VALLE JARAMILLO COLOMBIA February 20, 2003 I. SUMMARY 1. On August 2, 2001, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Commission” or “the IACHR”) received a petition submitted by the Grupo Interdisciplinario por los Derechos Humanos (hereinafter “the petitioners”) in which it alleges that the Republic of Colombia (hereinafter “the State” or “the Colombian State”) is responsible for the killing of attorney and human rights defender Jesús María Valle Jaramillo on February 27, 1998, in the city of Medellín, Colombia. 2. The petitioners allege that the State was responsible for the violation of the rights to life, humane treatment, personal liberty, freedom of expression, and judicial protection of Jesús María Valle Jaramillo, enshrined in Articles 4(1), 5, 7, 8, 13, and 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter “the American Convention” or “the Convention”) to the detriment of the victim and his next-of-kin, as well as the generic obligation to respect and ensure the rights protected in the Convention, set forth at Article 1(1). In response, the Colombian State argued that the claim was inadmissible since it had carried out its obligation to clarify the assassination of Jesús María Valle, and since domestic remedies – in particular in the contentious-administrative jurisdiction–were still pending resolution. The petitioners alleged that the exception to the requirement of prior exhaustion of domestic remedies set forth at Article 46(2)(c) of the American Convention–regarding the unwarranted delay- applies to this case. 3. After analyzing the parties’ positions, the Commission concluded that it is competent to decide on the claim presented by the petitioners, and that the case is admissible, in light of Articles 46 and 47 of the American Convention. II. PROCESSING BY THE COMMISSION 4. On September 25, 2001, the IACHR processed petition No. 0519/2001 in keeping with the provisions of the Rules of Procedure in force since May 1, 2001, and it transmitted the pertinent parts of the complaint to the State, giving it two months to present any observations. On November 23, 2001, the State requested an extension for submitting its response, which was granted by the IACHR on November 27, 2001. On December 17, 2001, the State presented its answer, which was remitted to the petitioners on December 18, 2001, who were given 30 days to present their observations. 5. On March 5, 2002, the IACHR held a hearing on this case, in the context of its 114th session. On May 20, 2002, the petitioners submitted their position, in writing, on admissibility. In addition, they requested that the Comisión Colombiana de Juristas be included as copetitioner. On June 5, 2002, the IACHR forwarded the petitioners’ response to the State, and asked that it submit its observations within 30 days. On July 3, 2002, the Colombian State requested a one-month extension, which was duly granted. 6. On July 15, 2002, the IACHR forwarded to the petitioners documentation submitted by the State in the hearing held in the context of the 114th session. On August 15, 2002, the Colombian State submitted its observations. Those observations were sent to the petitioners, who acknowledged receipt of the communication and indicated that they did not wish to present further arguments III. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES A. Position of the petitioners 1