military intelligence 175 and acknowledged by the State in the context of the contentious procedure
before this Court. 176 Regarding this, Ms. Bedoya noted at the public hearing before the Court that
her communications had been intercepted for 21 years. 177 She also indicated the security plan
assigned earlier by the State had been found to include a network of police kidnappers. 178
80. On August 18, 2003, Ms. Bedoya was kidnapped again, along with her journalism team from El
Tiempo, and held for 5 days. The kidnapping was attributed to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (hereinafter "FARC"). 179 In November 2010, after publishing her book entitled Vida y
Muerte del Mono Jojoy, the journalist again received threats that, according to State security and
intelligence agencies, came from the FARC. Faced with this danger, the journalist decided to leave
the country temporarily. 180 The journalist filed a complaint about these threats, which was closed by
the Office of the Public Prosecutor in June 2014 upon finding that it was impossible to identify those
responsible for the threats. 181 Ms. Bedoya continued to receive threats during the years to come, via
messages to her phone, WhatsApp messages, phone calls from Colombia and abroad, and messages
to the newspaper where she works currently. 182 All the complaints filed by Ms. Bedoya were either
closed 183 or are still being processed. 184
VIII
MERITS
81. This case is related to (i) the facts that occurred on May 25, 2000 to the detriment of Ms.
Bedoya and the subsequent investigation and judicial proceedings; (ii) the alleged lack of due
175
Cf. Expansion of statement of Jineth Bedoya Lima, of May 22, 2003 (evidence file, folio 333). Also see statement
from Jineth Bedoya Lima given at the public hearing held on March 15, 22, and 23, 2021 within the framework of the 140th
regular sessions.
176
Cf. Response of the State of March 16, 2020 (merits file, folio 629 to 634).
Cf. Statement from Jineth Bedoya Lima given at the public hearing held on March 15, 22, and 23, 2021 within the
framework of the 140th regular sessions.
177
178
Cf. Statement from Jineth Bedoya Lima given at the public hearing held on March 15, 22, and 23, 2021 within the
framework of the 140th regular sessions.
179
Cf. Statement from Jineth Bedoya Lima given at the public hearing held on March 15, 22, and 23, 2021 within the
framework of the 140th regular sessions, where she stated that “In 2003, while reporting from the jungles of Colombia where
I obviously could not move about with the security provided, I was kidnapped by the FARC's 44th Front with the photojournalist
who was with me. We held for eight days, and then, thanks to the humanitarian actions of the church in the area and the
local residents, the guerrillas released us.”
180
Cf. Statement from Jineth Bedoya Lima given at the public hearing held on March 15, 22, and 23, 2021 within the
framework of the 140th regular sessions.
181
2076).
Cf. Office of the Attorney General of the Nation, Official Letter No. 239-640, of June 17, 2014 (evidence file, folio
182
Cf. Statement from Jineth Bedoya Lima given at the public hearing held on March 15, 22, and 23, 2021 within the
framework of the 140th regular sessions.
183
In this regard, Ms. Bedoya testified as follows during the public hearing held on March 15, 22 and 23 in the framework
of the 140 regular session:
Since the end of 2000, after my kidnapping and to this day, today in March 2021, I have continued to receive
threats, threats and persecution, but also intimidation directed at my sources and people who are part of
the process who have been intimidated and who have been victims of harassment and other incidents. To
this day, we are not clear on who are responsible, the Office of the Public Prosecutor has not carried out a
serious investigation in this regard, no one has been charged, and it has not been established who is behind
these threats. Paradoxically the day my case was admitted to the Court in 2019, the morning after the
announcement that the case had been admitted, I received threats from a phone number outside of
Colombia and we delivered all the data and all the evidence to the Prosecutor's Office and two years later,
they still have not managed to establish who made those threats.
Also see response of the State of March 16, 2020 (merits file, folios 632 and 633).
184
Cf. Response of the State of March 16, 2020 (merits file, folios 632 and 633).
31