2
I
1.
The instant case was submitted to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
(hereinafter "the Court" or "the Inter-American Court") by the Inter-American Commission
through an application dated December 24, 1992, accompanied by report Nº 31/91 of
September 26, 1991, the final version of which was adopted on September 25, 1992. The
case originated in a petition (Nº 10.319) against Colombia, received at the Secretariat of
the Commission on April 5, 1989.
2.
On December 8, 1995, the Court delivered a judgment on the merits of the case, in
which it decided that there was sufficient evidence
to infer the reasonable conclusion that the detention and the disappearance of Isidro CaballeroDelgado and María del Carmen Santana were carried out by persons who belonged to the
Colombian Army and by several civilians who collaborated with them ... The fact that more than six
years have passed, and there has been no news of Isidro Caballero-Delgado and María del Carmen
Santana permits the reasonable conclusion that they are dead. (Caballero Delgado and Santana
Case, Judgment of December 8, 1995. Series C No. 22, para. 53).
The Court declared in the operative part that it:
1.
Decides that the Republic of Colombia has violated, to the detriment of
Isidro Caballero-Delgado and María del Carmen Santana, the rights to
personal liberty and to life contained in Articles 7 and 4, read in conjunction
with Article 1(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights.
...
2.
Decides that the Republic of Colombia has not violated the right to
humane treatment contained in Article 5 of the American Convention on
Human Rights.
...
3.
Decides that the Republic of Colombia has not violated Articles 2, 8
and 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights, relative to the duty to
adopt measures to give effect to the rights and freedoms ensured by the
Convention, right to a fair trial, and the judicial protection of rights.
...
4.
Decides that the Republic of Colombia has not violated Articles 51(2)
and 44 of the American Convention on Human Rights.
...
5.
Decides that the Republic of Colombia is obligated to continue judicial
proceedings into the disappearance and presumed death of the persons
named and to extend punishment in accordance with internal law.
...