instrument ratifying each of them, even if they were not in force when the perpetration of
the forced disappearances and the other violations alleged in this case began. 679
439. In addition, in cases of enforced disappearance, the investigation will have certain
specific connotations that arise from the very nature and complexity of the phenomenon
investigated. This means that the investigation must also take all the necessary steps to
determine the fate of the victim and his or her whereabouts. 680 The Court has already
clarified that the obligation to investigate facts of this nature subsists while the uncertainty
of the final fate of the disappeared person remains, because the right of the victim’s next of
kin to know his or her fate and, if applicable, the whereabouts of his or her remains, is a fair
expectation that the State must satisfy by all available means. 681
440. Based on the arguments of the parties and of the Commission, the Court will now
analyze the alleged violations relating to the investigations into the events of this case, in
the following order: (1) the investigations in the military criminal jurisdiction; (2) the
detention of those presumably responsible in military facilities; (3) the failure to open an
investigation ex officio; (4) the omission in the search for the disappeared victims; (5) due
diligence in the investigations; (6) the reasonable time in the proceedings of the ordinary
criminal jurisdiction, and (7) the right to know the truth.
B.1) Investigations in the military criminal jurisdiction
441. Proceedings were instituted in the military criminal jurisdiction against two members
of the Army in relation to the events of this case; one of these was for the forced
disappearance of Irma Franco Pineda and the torture and ill-treatment of Yolanda
Santodomingo Albericci and Eduardo Matson Ospino. These proceedings culminated in the
discontinuance of the proceeding for forced disappearance, and the declaration of the
prescription of the criminal action for torture (supra paras. 163 to 168). The Court
underscores that, it was the Special Investigative Court, created days after the events “to
investigate the offenses committed on the occasion of the violent taking of the Palace of
Justice” (supra para. 156), that referred the investigations into the forced disappearance of
Irma Franco Pineda and the torture of Yolanda Santodomingo Albericci and Eduardo Matson
Ospino to the military criminal jurisdiction; while the investigation into the conduct of the
members of the guerrilla who took the Palace of Justice was referred to the ordinary justice
system (supra paras. 158 and 161).
442. With regard to the intervention of the military jurisdiction to hear acts that constitute
human rights violations, the Court recalls its abundant and consistent case law in this
regard. 682 In the instant case, it finds it sufficient to reiterate that under the democratic rule
679
Cf. Case of Las Dos Erres Massacre v. Guatemala. Preliminary objection, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment
of November 24, 2009. Series C No. 211, para. 137, and Case of Gudiel Álvarez et al. (Diario Militar) v. Guatemala.
Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of November 20, 2012. Series C No. 253, para. 235.
680
Cf. Case of Ticona Estrada et al. v. Bolivia. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of November 27, 2008.
Series C No. 191, para. 80, and Case of Osorio Rivera and family members v. Peru. Preliminary objections, merits,
reparations and costs. Judgment of November 26, 2013. Series C No. 274, para. 179.
681
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Merits. Judgment of July 29, 1988. Series C No. 4, para. 181, and
Case of Osorio Rivera and family members v. Peru. Preliminary objections, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of
November 26, 2013. Series C No. 274, para. 179.
682
Cf. Case of Castillo Petruzzi et al. v. Peru. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of May 30, 1999. Series C No.
52, paras. 128 to 130 and 132; Case of Cesti Hurtado v. Peru. Merits. Judgment of September 29, 1999. Series C No.
56, para. 151; Case of Durand and Ugarte v. Peru. Merits. Judgment of August 16, 2000. Series C No. 68, paras. 116,
117, 125 and 126; Case of Cantoral Benavides v. Peru. Merits. Judgment of August 18, 2000. Series C No. 69, paras.
112 to 114; Case of Las Palmeras v. Colombia. Merits. Judgment of December 6, 2001. Series C No. 90, paras. 51, 52
and 53; Case of 19 Tradesmen v. Colombia. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of July 5, 2004. Series C No.
109, paras. 165 to 167, 173 and 174; Case of Lori Berenson Mejía v. Peru. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of
November 25, 2004. Series C No. 119, paras. 141 to 145; Case of the Mapiripán Massacre v. Colombia. Merits,
reparations and costs. Judgment of September 15, 2005. Series C No. 134, para. 202; Case of Palamara Iribarne v.
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