experienced by the inhabitants of Santo Domingo who were displaced. The Court also observes that some of the pilots of the different aircraft that were flying over the area were able to observe the displacement of the population of Santo Domingo.381 261. The Mayor of the municipality of Tame, together with a commission from the Office of the Ombudsman and the Ministry of the Interior, visited Santo Domingo on December 16, 1998, and corroborated that the inhabitants of the village had been displaced, because there was no civilian population in Santo Domingo that day.382 This shows, and the State has not contested it, that the village was uninhabited after the events of December 13.383 262. The Court assesses the State’s assertion, which has not been contested, that “as soon as the incident and the subsequent displacement occurred, the Governor of the department of Arauca at the time summoned a meeting of the Cabinet and delegated an official from the Government Secretariat to deal with the situation directly. The latter went immediately to Tame and, in coordination with the Mayor of this municipality, provided the initial emergency humanitarian aid to the population that had displaced from Santo Domingo. Furthermore, the emergency humanitarian aid was extended for 20 days after December 13, 1998, and in addition to food, included accommodation and clothing.”384 263. Regarding the foregoing, the State argued that “measures were adopted for the reconstruction of Santo Domingo” and “to ensure the sustainability of the return of the population, it signed and implemented a housing reconstruction and improvement project in the village.” Also, in relation to the safety conditions for the return of the displaced, the State indicated that “after it had repelled the permanent attacks of the FARC, on December 17, 1998, the Army occupied and secured the area, so that the persons who left their homes could return safely to Santo Domingo.” It added that, according to “the statements of the deponents, the process of return to the village took no longer than one month from the date on which the events occurred.” 264. In this regard, the Court appreciates the fact that the State provided help and support to some of the displaced and their next of kin, namely: Deicy Damaris Cedano385, Nilsan de Jesús Díaz Herrera,386 and 11 persons who are included on the Single Register of Victims. Also, the return of safe conditions in Santo Domingo ensured by the national Army, added to the reconstruction of the houses,387 were important elements to allow some of those who were displaced to return to Santo Domingo starting in January 1999.388 381 In this regard, at 10:18:19 a.m., the Skymaster pilot indicated: “looks to me like the civilians are fleeing town […].” Also, at 10:18:59 a.m. the Skymaster pilot says: “Those are the civilians who are fleeing town.” Then at 10:36:40 a.m. the Skymaster pilot says: “The whole town is leaving […]”, and finally, at 10:52:06 a.m. the Skymaster pilot says: “There’s no one in the village; everyone has left.” Skymaster video of December 13, 1998 (evidence file, tome 19, folio 9621). 382 Cf. Tame Mayor’s Office, department of Arauca, December 29, 1998, answer to questionnaire of December 22, 1998, sent by the 12th Military First Instance Court to the Mayor of Tame (evidence file, tome 16, folios 8273 and 8274). 383 Cf. Tame Mayor’s Office, department of Arauca, December 29, 1998, answer to questionnaire of December 22, 1998, sent by the 12th Military First Instance Court to the Mayor of Tame (evidence file, tome 16, folio 8273 and 8274); Inspection procedure carried out by the 124th Court of the Military Criminal Investigation Unit in Santo Domingo, on December 17, 1998, taken from: Decision of the Criminal Investigation Unit of June 14, 2001, p. 164 (evidence file, tome 2, folio 547); Video of the procedure of December 17, 1998 (min. 19:08), recording the first inspection made in the village of Santo Domingo (evidence file, tome 20, folio 10175), and See also: Record of December 28, 1998, Inspection procedure (evidence file, tome 19, folio 9570). 384 Nilsa de Jesús Díaz Herrera, statement made by affidavit (evidence file, tome 50, folio 27987). 385 Cf. Deicy Damaris Cedano, statement made by affidavit (evidence file, tome 50, folio 27979). 386 Cf. Nilsa de Jesús Díaz Herrera, statement made by affidavit (evidence file, tome 50, folio 27987). 387 Cf. Inter-institutional cooperation agreement No. 0499 between the department of Arauca and the Araucan Development Institute, in order to relocate, reconstruct and improve the 47 houses in Santo Domingo, dated December 31, 1999 (evidence file, tome 51, folios 28033 to 28037). See also, newspaper article: El Espectador, “Santo Domingo será Reconstruido,” Judicial news p. 9-A, December 26, 1998 (evidence file, tome 14, folio 7360; tome 16, folio 8227). 388 Cf. Rusmira Daza Roja, statement made by affidavit (evidence file, tome 50, folio 28021); Mario Galvis Gelves, statement made by affidavit (evidence file, tome 50, folio 27941), and Milciades Bonilla, statement made by affidavit (evidence file, tome 50, folio 28006). ‐ 77 ‐