26 Ministry to authorize private individuals to bear arms which were for the exclusive use of the Armed Forces (supra para. 82 footnote 50) and provided the basis for the military regulations which promoted the formation of the “Los Masetos” paramilitary group (infra para. 88 and 89). 86. It was three months after the events of this case that Colombia issued Decree 815, whereby the abovementioned paragraph 3 of Article 33 of Legislative Decree 3398 was annulled. Decree 815 took into account that “some sectors of public opinion” interpreted such provisions of 1965 and 1968 as “an official authorization to organize civilian armed groups which operated outside the law and the Constitution.”56 87. Thus, it was only after the Rochela Massacre had been carried out that the State annulled the legal framework, which provided the grounds for the creation of such armed civilian groups. 88. Another aspect of the legal framework in force at the time of the Rochela Massacre concerned activities undertaken by members of self-defense groups to patrol and support the execution of combat and military intelligence operations. The representatives submitted as evidence a copy of provisions which contain information about these activities as well as information that highlights duties by members of the Armed Forces to organize and control such groups under provisions called, the “Regulations for Counter Guerrilla Combat Operations” [Reglamento de Combate de Contraguerrillas]57 and the “COUNTER-GUERRILLA COMBAT MANUAL” [COMBATE CONTRA BANDOLEROS O GUERRILLEROS],58 which were approved by the Military General Commander on April 9, 1969 and June 25, 1982, 56 Cf. Decree 0815 of April 19, 1989. Later, through a judgment of May 25, 1989, the Supreme Court of Justice found the abovementioned paragraph 3 of Article 33 of Legislative Decree 3398 of 1965 to be “unenforceable.” It was also months after the La Rochela massacre had been carried out that, by means of Decree 1194 of June 8, 1989, the State classified as criminal offenses the promoting, financing, organizing, directing, fostering, and carrying out acts “aimed at the formation or entry of persons to armed groups commonly known as death squads, gangs of hired gunmen or private justice groups, mistakenly called paramilitary groups.” The State also classified as criminal offenses the training or equipping of “persons in military tactics, techniques, or procedures for engaging in criminal activities” undertaken by the abovementioned armed groups. Cf. Case of the 19 Tradesmen, supra note 33, para. 84(g) and 84(h) and 121. 57 These Regulations provide that they would be identified as “REGLAMENTO EJC 3-10 RESERVADO” (record of evidences to the brief containing pleadings and motions, volume VIII, evidence 72, pages 3740 to 3747). The manual provided that among the objectives of the operations designed to organize the civilian population was “to organize civilians militarily so that they may defend themselves from guerrilla actions and support the execution of combat operations.” Furthermore, it was provided that “[t]he self-defense Committee is a military-like organization made up of civilians […] who are trained and equipped to execute actions against guerrillas who threaten the area or to operate in conjunction with combat troops,” and that “[t]he self-defense Committee must have direct control over the combat area military unit, and to that purpose, the commander shall appoint an officer or a noncommissioned officer who will be responsible for issuing relevant orders and for training the group. Among the “[m]issions which may be accomplished by the self-defense committee,” the Regulations include that of “[p]erforming the duties of mobile reconnaissance patrols to guard critical areas in towns and districts […] and taking part in control, search, and destruction operations, wherefore they may be equipped with arms and ammunition for the [exclusive] use of military forces.” (emphasis supplied) 58 The same Manual provides that it would be identified as “REGLAMENTO EJC-3-101 RESERVADO” (Counterguerrilla Combat EJC-3-101) (record of evidences to the brief containing pleadings and motions, volume VIII, evidence 73, page 3750); and affidavit made by witness Federico Andreu (record of written statements and expert reports, volume III, page 7502). The manual states that organizing self-defense committees, “to train them and support them must be a permanent objective of the Military Force where the population is loyal and is determined to combat the enemy. […] Self-defense committees […p]rovide guides for military operations, patrol their own areas, provide patrols with logistic support and accomplish intelligence and counterintelligence missions.” (emphasis suppled).