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this process on the investigation of human rights violations, including this case,
and
6) Luis González de León, expert witness proposed by the State, who provided
information on the process for the demobilization of the paramilitary groups in
Colombia, from a legal and practical perspective, on the implementation of the
Justice and Peace Law, the supposed guarantees for the rights of the victims to
the truth, justice and reparation under the said process, and the measures that
have been taken to guarantee the rights of the victims in the case of
paramilitaries demobilized and extradited to the United States of America. On
ending his statement, Mr. González de León delivered his expert opinion in
writing.
B)
Assessment of the evidence
56.
In this case, as in others, the Court accepts the probative value of the
documents presented by the parties at the proper procedural opportunity that were not
contested or opposed, and the authenticity of which was not questioned.60
57.
The State asked the Court not to accept the opinion of expert witness Federico
Andreu Guzmán because it considered that the purpose of the expert opinion was
entirely outside the case, because it referred to a context related to facts prior to the
Court’s temporal jurisdiction and it reached conclusions about the violence in Colombia
at a time that did not correspond to this case. If this was not possible, the State
requested that the military manuals mentioned in the said opinion not be taking into
account because, inter alia, it had not been sent a copy of the manuals in order to
verify their authenticity. In this regard, in relation to the purpose established for the
instant case (supra paras. 49 to 52), the Court considers that the State’s observations
refer to matters of probative value and not to the admissibility of the evidence.61
Therefore, in application of the provisions of 46(1) of its Rules of Procedure, the Court
incorporates into the body of evidence in the instant case the expert opinion of
Federico Andreu Guzmán, comprising the opinion give in the case of the Mapiripán
Massacre v. Colombia and the complementary opinion, and will assess it, taking into
account the objections raised by the State. Moreover, regarding the State’s objections
to the expert opinion of Michael Reed Hurtado, since they relate to the probative value
of the opinion, they will be assessed as pertinent when the Court examines the merits
of the dispute.
58.
The State contested the incorporation of the documents forwarded by the
representatives together with their final arguments.62 The Court notes that these
documents consist of laws, documents from criminal cases relating to proceedings
before the Constitutional Court, letters and communications, newspaper articles, and
diverse types of information. Although, in principle, their presentation was timebarred, the Court incorporates the documents relating to the criminal investigation of
60
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Merits, supra note 36, para. 140; Case of the Dos Erres
Massacre v. Guatemala, supra note 57, para. 58, and Case of Radilla Pacheco v. Mexico, supra note 24, para. 70.
61
62
Cf. Case of Reverón Trujillo v. Venezuela, supra note 54, para. 43.
In particular, it contested the inclusion of the attachments that were not cited in the brief and underscored
that the presentation of these documents was time-barred. It also indicated that attachments 15 and 16
(newspaper articles) “do not constitute supervening evidence and there was no serious impediment to their prior
presentation”; and that attachment 19 (a reference table) was not a piece of evidence or an official document, but
was prepared by the representatives and should be understood as such in the proceedings.