239. Thus, the Colonel, Head of the B-2, testified that “more than one person [who was
released from the Palace of Justice] advised that the cafeteria was the supply point for this
subversive group, because it cannot be believed that all the materiel and all the ammunition
seized had been brought in that same day.” According to this colonel, other hostages had
stated that, some days before, they had observed the entry into the cafeteria of packages
and that its employees “had been hired recently and were very young.” In addition, he
indicated that, in a pamphlet, the M-19 had “referred to the disappearance of these
individuals and to the members of the organization who died in the Palace of Justice and,
strangely, […] did not refer to other people who died or disappeared, [which] suggests by
simple intuition that they had something to do with the guerrilla.” 347
240. Nevertheless, among the presumed disappeared victims, there were also three visitors
who were not employees of the cafeteria, so that, in principle, they would not be implicated
in the presumed collaboration with or membership in the M-19 described above. 348
However, the Court considers that Norma Constanza Esguerra Forero, as the person who
provided the cafeteria with pastries, could easily be considered a cafeteria employee and,
therefore, possibly suspected of collaborating with the M-19 by the State authorities.
241. Furthermore, regarding the other two visitors, different statements and evidence exist
in the file of this case, according to which those persons who were unable to identify
themselves definitively and to justify their presence in the Palace of Justice were detained
and taken to military garrisons as possible suspects. 349 In this regard, the Court notes that
the State explained that detention for purposes of identification was legal at the time of the
events (infra para. 372). Indeed, this is what presumably happened in the case of Orlando
Quijano, according to the State’s arguments, so that it is possible that the same was true in
the cases of Gloria Anzola de Lanao and Lucy Amparo Oviedo Bonilla, who were not Palace
of Justice employees and who were inside the building at the time of the events by chance.
addition, it indicated various formal errors in the 1989 statement, including the failure to authenticate the testimony
before a judicial agent. The latter “is especially important, […] when the credibility of the witness is questioned owing
to his interest in the result of the proceedings.” The Court notes that, in October 1989, the Attorney General’s office
prepared a report on the credibility of the deponent and determined that it was “not warranted to accord credibility to
the communication of the Mr. [Gámez Mazuera].” Regarding the credibility of Mr. Gámez Mazuera’s statements, in the
proceedings against the members of the COICI, it was concluded that “the statement of this deponent demands to be
considered credible, because his account has the coherence and clarity characteristic of someone who has directly
perceived an event, and even though it has not been proved that he was a member of the Army, it cannot be
disregarded that, at the time of the events, the Army did not only function with uniformed personnel, but was
supported by intelligence agencies which, in turn, acted through collaborators and infiltrators.” The first instance court
ruled similarly in the proceedings against the Commander of the Army’s 13th Brigade. However, the second instance
judgment considered that his statements lacked credibility, because they had not been crosschecked and other parts
had been refuted. In the proceedings against the Commander of the Cavalry School, neither the first nor the second
instance judgment made any reference in this regard. Cf. Report of a lawyer, adviser to the Attorney General’s office
of October 18, 1989 (evidence file, folio 30661); Judgment of the 51st Criminal Court of the Bogota Circuit of
December 15, 2011 (evidence file, folios 20931 to 20933); Judgment of the 51st Criminal Court of the Bogota Circuit
of April 28, 2011 (evidence file, folios 24484 to 24486), and Judgment of the Superior Court of Bogota of October 24,
2014 (evidence file, folios 38307 and 38308). This Court considers that the State has not proved that the witness has
an interest in the litigation of this case before the Inter-American Court. Moreover, the alleged absence of a connection
between him and the Army is also insufficient evidence to disprove the statements of the witness. Therefore, the Court
consider his statements and assess them taking into account the whole body of evidence.
347
Cf. Extract from the testimony of the Colonel, Head of the B-2, of December 6, 1985, in the judgment of the
Third Criminal Court of the Bogota Special Circuit of June 9, 2010 (evidence file, folios 23983, 24030 and 24031).
348
Norma Constanza Esguerra Forero, Lucy Amparo Oviedo Bonilla and Gloria Anzola de Lanao.
349
Cf. Testimony of Orlando Arrechea Ocoro of November 28, 1985, before the Special Commission of the Attorney
General’s Office (evidence file, folio 1222); Testimony of Eduardo Matson Ospino before the Prosecution Service of
April 10, 2006 (evidence file, folio 1214), and Judgment of the Superior Court of Bogota of January 30, 2012
(evidence file, folio 23354).
81
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