120 reasonable time, and have not constituted an effective recourse to ensure the rights of access to justice, the truth about the facts and to reparation of the alleged victims and their next of kin. ii) Criminal proceedings concerning the events in El Aro 310. In the el Aro case it has been proved that the group of approximately 30 armed men who perpetrated the massacre remained in the district from October 22 to November 12, 1997 (supra para. 125(5) and 125(58)). From November 1997 to February 1998, the Prosecutor General’s Office received statements from several witnesses and next of kin of the alleged victims, ordered and conducted investigatory measures to determine the identity of the persons involved and carried out judicial inspections in the district (supra para. 125(88)). As a result, on March 19, 1998, the Prosecutor General’s Office decided to issue a resolution to open the pre-trial investigation. 311. Eight years after the events, the State has only investigated seven individuals in the criminal investigation, and only convicted three civilians, one of whom is in prison; the proceedings against two members of the Army are still ongoing (supra para. 125(87) to 125(94)). 312. Specifically, on April 22, 2003, the Second Specialized Judge of the Antioquia Circuit delivered a judgment convicting the accused, Carlos Castaño Gil, Salvatore Mancuso and Francisco Enrique Villalba, of the murder of 15 persons, conspiracy to commit a crime, compounded by aggravated theft (supra para. 125(93)). These civilians, with the exception of Francisco Enrique Villalba, who was imprisoned in the Ituaguí Maximum Security Prison, were tried and sentenced in absentia and the arrest warrants against them have never been executed. 313. At December 2004, no member of the Army had been investigated, even though on February 6, 2004, the ruling of the Attorney General’s Office of September 30, 2002, in the disciplinary proceedings, had been forwarded to the criminal investigation (supra para. 125(94)). This ruling ordered the dismissal of the soldiers, Lieutenant Everardo Bolaños Galindo and First Corporal Germán Alzate Cardona, for their participation in the facts, which could constitute crimes punishable under the criminal jurisdiction in addition to disciplinary offenses (supra para. 125(100)). In other words, no State agent was investigated in the criminal proceedings until seven years after the facts had occurred. 314. On March 1, 2005, the pre-trial detention of these two soldiers was ordered. However, the order was only executed in the case of Lieutenant Everardo Bolaños Galindo, who is imprisoned in the Cómbita Maximum Security Prison. The proceedings against both soldiers are still open. 315. In the El Aro case, the authorities’ delay and lack of diligence in the proceedings is evident, because more than eight years have elapsed since these events, in which dozens of civilians took part with the acquiescence and tolerance of the law enforcement bodies, and most of those responsible have not yet been investigated in any criminal proceedings. The Court observes that an operation of this size could not have gone unnoticed by the authorities in the zone, and this has been acknowledged by the State in the proceedings before the Court.