decisions that it has delivered to date concerning the events, rejected these identifications,
mainly because the person in the images is not wearing the clothes that Ms. Guarín Cortés
was wearing on the day of the assault, according to the first statements of the next of kin,
and also because it was more probable that the images related to María Nelfi Díaz,
regarding whom there is no doubt that she survived the events of the Palace of Justice. 420
278. In 2006 and 2007, Bernardo Beltrán Hernández was identified in a photograph and in
a video by his sister and, in the latter, also by relatives of other disappeared. 421 The first
instance courts that have heard the case have accorded probative value to the said
identifications and have used them to prove that Mr. Beltrán Hernández left the Palace of
Justice alive. 422 To the contrary, the Superior Court of Bogota in the proceedings against the
Commander of the Cavalry School noted that there were contradictions in the identifications
and that, initially, his family identified him leaving the Palace of Justice on November 6
(supra para. 273), while in the subsequent identifications, they referred to images of
November 7. 423 Nevertheless, another chamber of the same court, in the proceedings
against the Commander of the 13th Brigade, considered it proved that the person
into the offense of perjury that she possibly committed.” In addition, the 51st Court concluded that the credibility
of the testimony was undermined because the deponent only recalled “the shape of the shirt collar and cuffs,”
after seeing the videos, and that the said identification was not “spontaneous, because she was only shown the
precise part with her presumed exit, without even allowing her to find the image in which hypothetically she
recognized herself.” Cf. Judgment of the Third Criminal Court of the Bogota Special Circuit of June 9, 2010
(evidence file, folios 23998 to 24000); Judgment of the 51st Criminal Court of the Bogota Circuit of April 28,
2011 (evidence file, folios 24500 to 24502 and 24568), and Judgment of the 51st Criminal Court of the Bogota
Circuit of December 15, 2011 (evidence file, folio 20948).
420
In addition, regarding the identifications made by Cecilia Cabrera in the proceedings against the Commander of
the Cavalry School, the Superior Court noted that, during the procedure, “the information provided by the witness was
not examined,” and the defense indicated that it appeared that Ms. Cabrera was referring to three images from
different angles when, in fact, there were only two. Furthermore, the deponent had already seen this video in 1988
and had not identified Cristina. In the proceedings against the Commander of the 13th Brigade, the Chamber of the
Superior Court considered that the identification by her brother was “not convincing, firm or definitive”; while, in the
Chamber’s opinion, the identification by Cecilia Cabrera did not coincide with either the clothes or the place from
which Cristina del Pilar Guarín Cortés would have exited. Cf. Judgment of the Superior Court of Bogota of January 30,
2012 (evidence file, folios 23112 23182, 23189 and 23191), and Judgment of the Superior Court of Bogota of October
24, 2014 (evidence file, folio 38330).
421
Specifically, Bernardo Beltrán Hernández was identified in 2006 by his sister in a photograph (she indicated that
she considered “that the profile in the photograph corresponding to No. 4 from left to right behind a soldier […] is
[her] brother”), and in the video obtained in the judicial inspection in the residence of the Commander of the Cavalry
School in 2007. In the latter also by René Guarín Cortés and Cecilia Cabrera in 2007. Cf. Testimony of Sandra Beltrán
Hernández of August 25, 2006, before the Prosecution Service (evidence file, folio 29389); Testimony of Sandra
Beltrán Hernández and René Guarín Cortes of August 16, 2007, before the Prosecution Service (evidence file, folio
1087), and Testimony of Cecilia Cabrera of August 16, 2007, before the Prosecution Service (evidence file, folio
28220). In addition, in 1988, the mother of Mr. Beltrán Hernández indicated that in video No. 11, one of the men who
exited the Palace of Justice running appeared to be her son. The following day, his mother and other family members,
including Bernardo’s sister, Sandra Beltrán, saw the same video again and concluded that it was not Bernardo.
Therefore, this Court will not take the said identification into account. Cf. Extracts from procedures conducted on
January 13 and 14, 1988, in the judgment of the Superior Court of Bogota of January 30, 2012 (evidence file, folios
23123 and 23124).
422
Cf. Judgment of the Third Criminal Court of the Bogota Special Circuit of June 9, 2010 (evidence file, folios 24001
to 24003); Judgment of the 51st Criminal Court of the Bogota Circuit of April 28, 2011 (evidence file, folios 24502 to
24504 and 24568), and Judgment of the 51st Criminal Court of the Bogota Circuit of December 15, 2011 (evidence
file, folios 20952 to 20954).
423
In addition, it indicated that the identification made by Sandra Beltrán “was unduly influenced by [René Guarín
de Cortes],” because the deponent heard Mr. Guarín identify Bernardo in the video.” Regarding the identification made
by Carlos Augusto’s wife, it emphasized that she did not know Bernardo Beltrán sufficiently to identify him 22 years
later. Moreover, the image that she identified is the one that, in 1988, his family considered did not correspond to
Bernardo. Cf. Judgment of the Superior Court of Bogota of January 30, 2012 (evidence file, folios 23112, 23128 to
23131)
97
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