27 When the Mapiripán Massacre took place, the Seventh Brigade based in Villavicencio was one of those that most actively supported the paramilitary groups. It was also headed by high ranking officers who were considered to be among the most capable and intelligent in the Colombian armed forces. The expert stated that the Mapiripán Massacre was planned in January 1997 and that the paramilitary chose that town because it was a cocaine trade center and, therefore, a source of income for the guerillas, who took advantage of the trade by taxing sales. According to the expert there are military officers who have not been brought before the judiciary, including Colonel Carlos Ávila, commander of the Joaquín Paris Battalion, General Rito Alejo del Río, Commander of the Seventeenth Brigade and General Agustín Ardila, Commander of the Fourth Division at the time of the facts. The expert stated that the head of the Public Prosecutors’ Office requested that a formal investigation be opened against Colonel Ávila, on the basis that he probably helped coordinate the arrival of the paramilitary in Mapiripán. Nevertheless, he was promoted to the rank of general and in 2003 he was appointed as commander of the Seventh Brigade in Villavicencio, the same brigade that was involved Mapiripán. The mechanism that maintains impunity in Colombia includes protracted and justified delays that last up to seven years or more. Also, the proceedings that have to do with crimes against humanity are not conducted independently and impartially. In all the cases, the responsibilities are clear and the authorities know precisely and in detail who ordered the crimes, how much they cost, who planned and executed them, how and when they were carried out, and who benefited from them. Despite all this, none of those cases has led to a credible trial, investigation and sentencing. Finally, there is a great shortcoming with regard to protection of the physical and psychological safety, as well as the dignity, the identity and the privacy of the victims, the witnesses, and the investigators, which denies them the right to justice. B) TESTIMONY AND EXPERT OPINIONS 76. At the public hearing (supra paras. 35 and 36), the Court heard the statements of the witnesses and the expert witness offered by the Commission, the representatives and the State. The Court will now summarize those statements. a) Gustavo Morales Marín, Public Prosecutor before the Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia He stated that the Attorney General’s Office of Colombia has taken a number of steps to impede impunity and cases of grave human rights violations, “technically selecting the Public Prosecutors […], training said officials […], establishing a number of administrative controls regarding the functions of the Public Prosecutors and, finally, develop[ing] a policy for change in the criminal procedural court system.” In the instant case a number of steps have been taken “in a proceeding that has gone on for several years but which has bifurcated, because in [the] system there is