14 39. When they arrived to the camp, the soldiers who witnessed the events were instructed by their superiors to say that during the transfer they had to "whip" the guerrilleros and that Germán Escué had died in the middle of the cross fire.33 40. This Court has indicated that the right to life plays a fundamental role in the American Convention, as it is the essential corollary for realizing the other rights.34 States have the obligation to guarantee the creation of the necessary conditions to ensure that violations of this inalienable right do not occur as well as the duty to prevent, especially, its officials from violating it.35 The duty to guarantee the right set forth in Article 4, in conjunction with Article 1(1) of the American Convention, not only presupposes that no person may be arbitrarily deprived of his life (negative duty) but also requires, pursuant to the obligation to guarantee the full and free exercise of human rights, that the States adopt any and all necessary measures to protect and preserve the right to life (positive duty),36 of the individuals under their jurisdiction.37 As stated above, the States must adopt all necessary measures not only to prevent, prosecute and punish the deprivation of life as a consequence of criminal acts, in general, but also to prevent arbitrary killings on the part of their own security forces.38 41. Thus, and bearing in mind the confession of the State, the Court declares that Colombia violated the rights enshrined in Article 4(1) of the American Convention, in conjunction with Article 1(1) therein, to the detriment of Mr. Germán Escué Zapata. * * * 42. Furthermore, the Court understand that the State took the initiative to investigate the death of Mr. Escué Zapata as a consequence of the facts established in the above paragraphs and according to the terms of Articles 1(1) and 4(1) of the American Convention. The evaluation of the duty to guarantee the right to life through a serious, complete and effective investigation of the events shall be done in Chapter X of this Judgment. It is enough to say, for the purposes of the determination of the violation of 33 Cf. Statement rendered by Marco Tulio Cañas Torres, on February 24, 2006 (Record of the Appendixes of the answer to the complaint, Prosecutor’s file, Folder 3, page 2333); elaboration upon the statement rendered by Marco Tulio Cañas Torres, of March 17, 2006 (Record of the Appendixes of the answer to the complaint, Prosecutor’s file, Folder 3, page 2378); statement rendered by Rubén Darío Aricapa García, on March 18, 2006 (Record of the Appendixes of the answer to the complaint, Prosecutor's file, Folder 3, page 2406); statement rendered by Oscar Iván Arias Herrera on March 18, 2006 (Record of the Appendixes of the answer to the complaint, Prosecutor's file, Folder 3, page 2411) and action for the inquiry of Evert Ospina Martinez of April 1, 2006 (Record of the Appendixes of the answer to the complaint, Prosecutor’s file, Folder 4, pages 2544 and 2545). 34 Cf. Case of “Street Children" (Villagrán-Morales et al.) v. Guatemala, Judgment of November 19, 1999. Series C, No. 63, para. 144; Case of the Miguel Castro-Castro Prison v. Peru, supra note 17, para. 237, and Case of the Pueblo Bello Massacre v. Colombia, supra note 19, para. 120. 35 Cf. Case of “Street Children” (Villagrán-Morales et al.) v. Guatemala; supra note 34, para. 144; Case of the Miguel Castro-Castro Prison v. Peru, supra note 17, para. 237 and Case of Montero-Aranguren et al. (Detention Center of Catia) v. Venezuela, supra note 7, para. 64. 36 Cf. Case of “Street Children” (Villagrán-Morales et al.) v. Guatemala; supra note 34, para. 144; Case of Miguel Castro-Castro Prison v. Peru, supra note 17, para. 237 and Case of Vargas-Areco v. Paraguay. Judgment of September 26, 2006. Series C No. 155, para. 75. 37 Cf. Case of the Pueblo Bello Massacre v. Colombia, supra note 19, para. 120; Case of Miguel CastroCastro Prison v. Peru, supra note 17, para. 237 and Case of Vargas-Areco v. Paraguay, supra note 36, para. 75. 38 Cf. Case of “Street Children” (Villagrán-Morales et al.) v. Guatemala; supra note 34, para. 145; Case of Miguel Castro-Castro Prison v. Peru, supra note 17, para. 238, Case of Baldeón-Garcia v. Peru. Judgment on April 6, 2006. Series C No. 147, para. 87.