State did not take the positive measures required to ensure the due protection and integrity of the displaced families, whose members were split up or separated. 326. Nevertheless, neither the Commission nor the representatives presented sufficient information to determine the specific characteristics of the families within the community life of the Afro-descendant communities of the Cacarica. Thus, although they provided some information on the displacement conditions, when indicating that these communities had a communal lifestyle, the Commission and the representatives failed to explain or provide grounds for the specific ways in which the members of these communities exercised their rights of the family or, consequently, the specific harm that the events caused. Therefore, the Court has insufficient evidence to analyze the facts under Article 17 of the Convention. B.3. Rights of children and adolescents 327. The Court has established that the alleged violations of other articles of the Convention of which children are presumed victims must be interpreted in light of the corpus iuris of the rights of the child. This means that in addition to granting special protection to the rights recognized in the American Convention, Article 19 establishes an obligation of the State to respect and to ensure the rights recognized to children in other applicable international instruments.574 It should be recalled that the Court has indicated that “the special vulnerability owing to their condition as children is even more evident in a situation of internal armed conflict, […] because they are the least prepared to adapt or respond to this situation and, sadly, it is they who suffer its excesses disproportionately”;575 hence, in this context, adequate attention must be provided to them and the appropriate measures taken to facilitate the reunification of families that have been temporarily separated.576 328. In addition, any decision of the State, society or the family that entails a limitation to the exercise of any right of a child must take into account the principle of the best interests of the child and be rigorously in keeping with the provisions that regulate this matter.577 This regulating principle of the normative on the rights of the child is based on the dignity of the human being, on the inherent characteristics of children, and on the need to foster their development taking full advantage of their potential. Similarly, it should be noted that, in order to ensure, to the fullest extent possible, the prevalence of the best interests of the child, the preamble to the Convention on the Rights of the Child establishes that the child requires “special safeguards and care,” and Article 19 of the American Convention indicates that the child must receive special “measures of protection.”578 Hence, it is necessary to assess not only the requirement of special measures, but also the particular characteristics of the situation in which the child finds himself.579 329. Regarding the conditions at the displacement sites, the Court has been able to verify that the State carried out a series of actions designed to provide assistance to the communities once they returned to the Cacarica region (supra para. 127). In particular, the State provided 574 Cf. Case of Gelman v. Uruguay, para. 121, and Case of Forneron and daughter v. Argentina. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of April 27, 2012. Series C No. 242, para. 44. 575 Case of the Mapiripán Massacre v. Colombia. Merits, and reparations, para. 156, and Case of the Santo Domingo Massacre v. Colombia. Preliminary objections, merits and reparations, para. 239. 576 Cf. Case of the Santo Domingo Massacre v. Colombia. Preliminary objections, merits and reparations, para. 238. 577 Cf. Juridical Status and Human Rights of the Child. Advisory Opinion OC-17/02, para. 65, and Case of Forneron and daughter v. Argentina, para. 48. 578 Cf. Juridical Status and Human Rights of the Child. Advisory Opinion OC-17/02, para. 60, and Case of Atala Riffo and daughters v. Chile. Merits, reparations and costs, para. 108. 579 Cf. Juridical Status and Human Rights of the Child. Advisory Opinion OC-17/02, para. 61, and Case of Furlán and family members v. Argentina, para. 126. 109

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