Office of the Prosecutor General at the beginning of 1999.100 The file does not say what type of protection she may have received. 104. On March 1, 1999, Judith Carvajal Carvajal sent a complaint to the Regional Office of the Public Prosecutor alleging that the defense attorneys in her brother’s case had violated the confidentiality of the pretrial phase of the criminal proceeding by turning over copies of some of the proceedings conducted during that phase to various individuals in Pitalito who were not defendants in the case. She indicated that this seriously jeopardized the confidentiality of the identity of witnesses and key individuals in the investigation. She also maintained that the order determining the legal status of the defendants began to circulate “as if it were some kind of public press release” and that it was “used to create anxiety and panic among the witnesses and the general public so they would retract their statements or decline to cooperate with the justice system in the development of the case.”101 For example, Mr. Fernando Manrique, who provided a statement in the case, said that he feared for his physical safety because of his statement, since “it is clear that Mr. Fernando Bermúdez was the mastermind.” Additionally, he “maintain[ed] that if anything were to happen [to him] or to his family, the only person responsible for it is the person implicated in the case, Mr. Fernando Bermúdez.”102 On July 29, 1999, Judith Carvajal Carvajal indicated in a supplemental statement that she advised Mr. Fernando Manrique to give a confidential statement because “he had several things to say, or that he wanted to say, but he was afraid because of the pressure he might be under if he said them.” She added that when copies of the investigation circulated publicly, “an individual—I don’t know who it was—sought out Fernando Manrique to tell him to tone down what he had said when he was called back to give a supplemental statement. Fernando was scared because he said that the case was already public knowledge.”103 105. On October 15, 1999, Judith Carvajal informed the Human Rights Unit of the Office of the Prosecutor General of her “imminent departure from the country because of the threats” she was receiving from “persons implicated in the investigation of the death” of her brother Nelson Carvajal Carvajal. Moreover, she stated that on that date she was writing to the Prosecutor General of Colombia about her concern for her entire family that remained in Pitalito, since they were receiving threats. She additionally asked “the Prosecutor’s Office for protection for [her] family, which is in the process of leaving Pitalito for fear that something might happen to them.” She also sought protection for Luis Ortiz, the person who was on a cassette recording that was submitted as part of the case (supra para. 101).104 106. There is no information in the case file before the IACHR about any kind of protection offered or granted to the Carvajal family or to Luis Ortiz. According to the information received subsequently by the IACHR in 2006 and 2010, nine (9) relatives of Nelson Carvajal’s had reportedly left the country for safety reasons: Paola Andrea Carvajal Bolaños and María Alejandra Carvajal Bolaños (daughters); Luz Stella Bolaños Rodríguez (spouse); Judith Carvajal Carvajal, Gloria Mercedes Carvajal Carvajal, and Ruth Dary Carvajal Carvajal (sisters); Fernando Augusto Carvajal Carvajal (brother); and Cristhian Camilo Motta Carvajal and César Augusto Meneses Carvajal (Nelson’s nephews, sons of Judith and Ruth Dary, 100 Attachment 6. First Notary Public of Pitalito. Department of Huila. Certificate Number 683. September 18, 2003. Attachment to the petitioner’s communication of September 22, 2003. 101 Attachment 15. Complaint filed by Judith Carvajal Carvajal with the Regional Office of the Public Prosecutor regarding risks faced by witnesses. March 1, 1999. Received by the Regional Prosecutor’s Office on March 3, 1999. Attachment to the petitioner’s communication of August 25, 2005. 102 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. para. 53. Attachment to the petitioner’s communication of August 25, 2005. 103 Attachment 2. Office of the Prosecutor General. Technical Investigations Unit. Regional Crimes Group. Supplemental Affidavit provided by Judith Carvajal Carvajal in Case File No. 33.744. July 29, 1999. Pp. 1-2. Attachment to the petitioner’s communication of August 25, 2005. 104 Attachment 8. Office of the Prosecutor General. National Human Rights Unit. Statement given by Judith Carvajal Carvajal. File No. 582 HRU. October 15, 1999. Attachment to the petitioner’s communication of August 25, 2005.