86.
The Superior Court additionally stated that the defense counsel “demonstrated that the
Prosecutor’s Office disregarded other theories of perpetration of the crime, which pointed to the FARC and to
an organization of common criminals, but especially to the FARC.”75 On this point, the Court specified that it is
necessary for the case to contain reasons to support the assertion that FARC guerrillas were involved in
Nelson Carvajal’s violent death. On this basis, the Superior Court upheld the judgment of the Single Criminal
Court.76
4.
New investigations by the Office of the Prosecutor
87.
In view of the Single Criminal Court’s order to continue the investigations into the actors and
participants in Nelson Carvajal’s murder,77 the Fourth Special Prosecutor’s Office of Neiva took jurisdiction
over the preliminary investigation in an order dated February 17, 2003, and instructed the DAS to gather
evidence related to the case. There is no information in the case file about the proceedings undertaken by this
Office of the Prosecutor during the following three years.
88.
On November 1, 2005, in order No. 03815, the Prosecutor General reassigned the
investigation to the National Human Rights and IHL Unit. On December 20, 2005, the preliminary
investigation was assumed by the 18th Office of the Special Prosecutor, which ordered the examination of
various types of evidence.78 As part of those proceedings, the record shows that on March 29, and October 11
and 12, 2006, a demilitarized FARC combatant named Pablo Emilio Bonilla Betancurt provided statements in
Pitalito, Huila, before the Office of the Special Prosecutor, giving an account of the events that pointed to the
former mayor of Pitalito and a local businessman and former council member as the masterminds behind
Nelson Carvajal Carvajal’s murder .79
89.
On August 26, 2008, based on those statements, the 18th Office of the Special Prosecutor
implicated Carlos Rojas, who was serving as the president of the departmental legislature of Huila, in the
offenses of criminal conspiracy and murder.80 Rojas had been a defense witness in the trial against the alleged
mastermind and perpetrator.81 This time, the Prosecutor’s Office in charge of the case asked the Public
Ministry to examine the possibility of filing a motion before the Supreme Court of Justice for the
reconsideration of the acquittal handed down by the Single Criminal Court of the Specialized Circuit of Neiva
in this case82 (sufra para. 83).
90.
On September 4, 2008 the Prosecutor’s Office issued a determination on the legal status of
the then-president of the departmental legislature of Huila, and ordered that he be held in pretrial detention
without bail during the criminal investigation.
75 Attachment 4. Superior Court for the Judicial District. Criminal Judgment Division. Judgment of April 6, 2001. p. 38.
Attachment to the petitioner’s communication dated October 17, 2002.
76 Attachment 4. Superior Court for the Judicial District. Criminal Judgment Division. Judgment of April 6, 2001. p. 4.
Attachment to the petitioner’s communication dated October 17, 2002.
77 Attachment 3. Single Criminal Court of the Specialized Circuit. Neiva, Huila. Judgment of December 15, 2000. p. 41.
Attachment to the petitioner’s communication dated October 17, 2002.
78 Attachment 26. Office of the Prosecutor General. Prosecutor 101 of the National Human Rights and International
Humanitarian Law Unit. July 23, 2013. Attachment to the petitioner’s communication dated August 12, 2013.
79 Attachment 27. Supreme Court of Justice. Criminal Cassation Division. Case No 30689. April 1, 2009. Attachment to the
petitioner’s communication of May 13, 2009.
80 Attachment 26. Office of the Prosecutor General. Prosecutor 101 of the National Human Rights and International
Humanitarian Law Unit. July 23, 2013. Attachment to the petitioner’s communication dated August 12, 2013.
81 Attachment 1. Office of the Prosecutor General. Regional Office of the Public Prosecutor Special Terrorism Unit. Case 33.744.
COD. -210-209. Santafé de Bogotá D.C. January 18, 1999. Attachment to the petitioner’s communication of August 25, 2005.
82 Attachment 26. Office of the Prosecutor General. Prosecutor 101 of the National Human Rights and International
Humanitarian Law Unit. July 23, 2013. Attachment to the petitioner’s communication dated August 12, 2013.