42 G. Comuna 13 and human rights defenders 160. In 2002, over 20 community action boards were active in Comuna 13, as were 30 organizations of various kinds, including civic associations, women’s groups and organizations whose mission was to defend human rights.152 161. The Las Independencias Women’s Association was formed in 1999. Its members are female heads of household and its purpose is to win social recognition for women.153 It is part of a well known Network of Women’s Organizations in Colombia and in Latin America – the Ruta Pacifica de las Mujeres [Women’s Peaceful Path]. The following are among its objectives: 1) to promote human and social recognition of women; 2) to promote women’s human rights, based on equity; 3) to improve women’s quality of life by creating programs to increase their earnings and create jobs; and 4) to develop specific programs intended to improve the quality of life of female heads of household.154 162. In the admissibility phase of the proceedings in this case, the IACHR established that the Community Action Board is “a non-profit, solidarity-based civil, social and community socialmanagement organization. It has legal personality and its own assets and is formed voluntarily by the residents of a place who join forces and resources to achieve integral and sustainable development, based on the exercise of participatory democracy in community-development management.”155 163. The Office of the Colombian Ombudsperson has identified the leaders and representatives of the community groups in Comuna 13 as persons in need of special protection “given their vulnerability to the violent acts of armed outlaw actors.”156 It describes how the vehicles for organizational participation and autonomy have become a threat to the hegemony of illegal armed actors – who in the past were the militias and then the Self-Defense groups.157 The Ombudsperson’s Office describes how these threats are mainly targeted at community leaders and representatives, who are attacked because of their refusal to move over for a new power in the neighborhood.158 164. The organization CINEP has also documented how, as these social organizations develop in Comuna 13, so does the authorities’ pattern of accusing them of aiding and abetting the militias.159 As a result, attempts have been made on the lives and personal integrity of the organizations’ leaders and 152 Panorama de Derechos Humanos, Noche y Niebla y Violencia Política en Colombia, Caso Tipo No. 2: Comuna 13, [Human Rights Picture, Night, Fog and Political Violence in Colombia], CINEP & Justicia y Paz, Bogotá, May 2003, p. 81. 153 Annex 30. Certificate of Existence and Representation of Non-profit Entities, Medellín Chamber of Commerce for Antioquia, Las Independencias Women’s Association (AMI), p. 1, Attachment to the petitioners’ observations in the matter of Mery Naranjo Jimenez et al. – Comuna 13, March 25, 2010.. 154 Annex 30. Certificate of Existence and Representation of Non-profit Entities, Medellín Chamber of Commerce for Antioquia, Las Independencias Women’s Association (AMI), p. 1. 155 IACHR, Report No. 3/07, Petition 1145-2004, Admissibility, Miryam Eugenia Rúa Figueroa et al. (Comuna 13), Colombia, February 27, 2007, note 15, in reference to Article 8 of Law 745 of 2002 and its regulations, Decree 2350 of 2003. 156 Annex 48. Risk Assessment No. 009-07, Office of the Colombian Ombudsperson, p. 3. 157 Annex 48. Risk Assessment No. 009-07, Office of the Colombian Ombudsperson, p. 13. 158 Annex 48. Risk Assessment No. 009-07, Office of the Colombian Ombudsperson, p. 13. 159 Panorama de Derechos Humanos, Noche y Niebla y Violencia Política en Colombia, Caso Tipo No. 2: Comuna 13, [Human Rights Picture, Night, Fog and Political Violence in Colombia], CINEP & Justicia y Paz, Bogotá, May 2003, p. 30.