the right to truth and to justice of the victims. To the contrary, the arguments of the parties and
the evidence provided by the representatives,643 the Prosecutor General’s Office, and the
judgment delivered by the Eighth Criminal Court of the Bogota Special Circuit of August 23,
2012, reveal that it was precisely the special Justice and Peace jurisdiction that allowed relevant
information to be revealed, which then permitted a partial reconstruction of the judicial truth of
what happened during the events of the case, which ultimately became an essential element in
the conviction of Rito Alejo del Río Rojas.
393. In relation to the fact that the voluntary confessions of the paramilitaries under the
Justice and Peace jurisdiction provided a fragmented or partial truth, the representatives did not
indicate how this is different from the supposed “fragmented truths” that may be revealed in a
proceeding before the ordinary jurisdiction, or how this “fragmented truth” impaired the
investigations into the events of this case. In this regard, it should be repeated that it was
precisely these voluntary confessions of demobilized paramilitaries, their verification by the
Prosecutor General’s Office, and the assessment of complementary evidence, that constituted
the body of evidence that allowed the Eighth Criminal Court of the Bogota Special Circuit to
reach its judicial decision with regard to Rito Alejo del Río Rojas. Lastly, as regards the
supposed failure of the prosecution to verify the voluntary confessions of the paramilitaries in
this case, the Court has been able to verify supra that these confessions were verified by the
Prosecutor General’s Office, and also subjected to an impartial and independent assessment by
the Eighth Criminal Court in its judgment of August 23, 2012.
d) Disciplinary proceedings
394. The Court notes that the representatives and the Commission indicated, regarding the
disciplinary proceedings that were carried out based on the facts of this case, that: (a) the
statute of limitations had been declared in some of them; (b) in others, the last actions had
been taken in 2002; (c) in another, a single instance ruling had been issued sanctioning the
Director and Secretary of CODECHOCÓ by dismissing them from their posts, and (d) another
was at a preliminary stage.
395. Regarding disciplinary proceedings, the Court has considered that they may be assessed
to the extent that their examination contributes to the clarification of the facts, and also that
the decisions are relevant owing to the symbolic value of the message of reprimand that this
type of sanction can signify for public officials and members of public institutions. 644 However,
as they tend to protect the administrative function and are essentially designed to correct and
control public officials, an investigation of this nature can complement, but cannot substitute
fully for the function of the criminal jurisdiction in cases of gross human rights violations. 645
396. In the instant case, the Court notes that the representatives’ arguments relating to the
disciplinary proceedings merely describe the procedural stage or their result without specifying
or explaining the presumed violations of due diligence that could have impaired them. In this
regard, the Court reiterates its consistent case law which establishes that the obligation to
643
Cf. El derecho a no ser discriminado. Primer informe sobre discriminación racial y derechos de la población
afrocolombiana (summary), 2008, Bogota : Universidad de los Andes. Observatorio de Discriminación Racial. Programa
de Justicia Global y Derechos Humanos y CIJUS; Proceso de Comunidades Negras (PCN); Centro de Estudios de
Derecho; Justicia y Sociedad (Dejusticia) (evidence file, folios 8242 to 8311); Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz. El
proyecto paramilitar en Colombia (evidence file, folios 8587 to 8602); Secretariado Nacional de Pastoral Social Bogota,
“Situación de guerra y de violencia en el Departamento del Chocó 1996-2002,” November 2002, pp. 56 and ff.
(evidence file, folios 8756 to 8817); “Pasion y muerte de un denunciante en Colombia” (evidence file, folios 9764 to
9800), and Report “A Wrong Turn,” issued by Human Rights Watch in November 2002 (evidence file, folio 9806).
644
Cf. Case of the Mapiripán Massacre v. Colombia, para. 215, and Case of the Santo Domingo Massacre v.
Colombia. Preliminary objections, merits and reparations, para. 167.
645
Cf. Case of the Pueblo Bello Massacre v. Colombia. Merits, para. 203, and Case of the Santo Domingo Massacre
v. Colombia. Preliminary objections, merits and reparations, para. 167.
126
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