-38the only testimonial evidence – precisely the testimony of Rogelio de Jesús
Escobar Mejía. The Appeals Chamber found:
[…] Indeed, as it is already known, the said witness Escobar Mejía, referring to
OGAZZA PANTOJA, in relation to the raid on Pueblo Bello, stated that the latter
had acted as head of intelligence, establishing the names of those who had
some link or sympathy with the guerrilla, but he did not know [whether] this
individual had taken part in the raid itself. The Chamber found that this
testimonial statement was credible, taken as a whole; in other words, not
assessing isolated phrases of the statement, outside the context and the
circumstances in which the facts took place – its sphere of action – taking into
consideration, as was corroborated, that it was not an invention, but
corresponded to the experience of the witness himself, as a former member of
the paramilitary group commanded by Castaño Gil. This allowed him to explain
specifically the hierarchical structure of the organization, the names of several
of its commanding officers, the criminal acts that had been committed, the
time, methods and place where the activities had occurred, even specifying the
place where some of the victims abducted during the raid on Pueblo Bello had
been buried, as corroborated by the respective authorities.
[...] Consequently, it is in this context that the ad quem proceeded to assess
the affirmations of Escobar Mejía in relation to his accusation against OGAZZA
PANTOJA, evaluating the whole content, without disregarding anything, but
situating and appreciating it within the factual context described by this
witness; that is, understanding that it referred to a criminal organization,
which, among its different activities, deliberately planned the raid on Pueblo
Bello with a specific purpose, which was to murder all the persons it believed
had links to the guerrilla [...].21
88.
In other words, the ordinary criminal jurisdiction granted full credibility to the
testimony of Mr. Escobar Mejía. It is also relevant that his statement before the
State authorities was decisive for finding the place where some of the alleged victims
abducted from Pueblo Bello had been buried. Nevertheless, since proceedings before
the Court are not of a criminal nature (infra para. 122), it is not necessary to
determine the truth of his statement as a co-accused in the said criminal
proceedings, or the alleged contradictions in which he incurred before the said
instances. When attempting to deny the probative value of this statement, among
other arguments, the State based itself on the assessment of the said statement
made by the Attorney General’s Office during the initial administrative proceeding.
89.
However, in both instances, the Office of the Delegate Disciplinary Attorney
for Human Rights accorded probative value to the testimony of Mr. Escobar Mejía,
even though it did not consider it provided sufficient evidence for establishing the
disciplinary responsibility of the soldiers under investigation. This Office’s ruling of
July 31, 2000, absolved Officer Rincón Pulido from responsibility, arguing that,
against him, there was only a slight indication that he had been one of the
perpetrators of the facts under investigation. Nevertheless, in this decision, the
Office itself indicated that:
This Office of the Delegate Attorney considers it evident, according to the probative
material gathered, particularly based on the statement of Rogelio de Jesús Escobar
Mejía, and, although it contains a few inaccuracies as regards time, distances and the
names of some places – since it appears that he did not know the area very well – this
Delegate does not find any reason for this witness to have lied as regards the
collaboration he says that an officer of the national Army, regarding whom he did not
provide any further elements so as to be able to identify the latter, who was on duty at
21
Cf. appeal judgment of March 8, 2001, of the Criminal Appeals Chamber of the Supreme Court of
Justice (file of attachments to the application, tome II, attachment C4, folios 503 and 504).
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