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paramilitary group and the agents of the Colombian State in La Granja and El
Aro and also to the children who were members of the families who were
victims of the violations committed during those events, inasmuch as the
latter were deprived of several of their rights by the illegal and arbitrary acts
of State agents”; and
(f)
“The children who lived in the district of El Aro were deprived of their
families to the extent that the fathers of some of them were executed and
their mothers had to abandon their homes. The situation of forced
displacement experienced by the inhabitants of El Aro, with the implications
mentioned above, signified the failure to protect the children’s most
elementary rights.”
The State’s arguments
238. In relation to Article 19 of the Convention, the State affirmed that it “had not
failed to comply with any obligation arising from Article 19” of the Convention. The
violation of the right to life of Wilmar de Jesús Restrepo Torres has been “covered by
the rulings in the criminal proceedings and by the acknowledgement of international
responsibility.”
The Court’s findings
239.
Article 19 of the Convention stipulates that:
Every minor child has the right to the measures of protection required by his condition
as a minor on the part of his family, society, and the State.
240. The Commission and the representatives alleged that the State had violated
Article 19 of the Convention, which was not covered by the State’s
acknowledgement, to the detriment of the child, Wilmar de Jesús Restrepo Torres,
who was executed in El Aro (supra paras. 72, 125(68) and 138). In addition, the
representatives alleged this violation to the detriment of other children of La Granja
and El Aro (supra paras. 78(d) and 237(d)).
241. In this regard, in this chapter, the Court considers that the victims are the
children who can be ascertained from the facts indicated in the Commission’s
application.
242. The State accepted responsibility for the facts that caused the death of the
child, Wilmar de Jesús Restrepo Torres, and acknowledged its respective
responsibility for the violation of Article 4 of the Convention. However, the State did
not consider that these facts constituted a complementary violation of Article 19
thereof (supra paras. 60 and 238).
243. In addition to the child, Wilmar de Jesús Restrepo Torres, the Court has
identified the following children indicated in the Commission’s application: Jorge
Correa Sánchez (who witnessed the death of his uncle, Héctor Hernán Correa
García), Omar Daniel Pérez Areiza, José Leonel Areiza Posada and Marco Aurelio
Areiza Posada.
244. The Court considers that Article 19 of the American Convention should be
understood as a complementary right that the Convention establishes for individuals
who need special measures of protection, owing to their stage of physical and
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