this Court notes that the father of Héctor Beltrán Fuentes testified that his wife had
identified their son in a video “in the hands of the lawyer Eduardo Umaña […] but […] this
disappeared.” 443
284. In view of the fact that the State’s arguments are the same as the objections to the
identifications described by the Superior Court in its judgment against the Commander of
the Cavalry School, this Court will proceed to examine them. First, in the cases of Cristina
del Pilar Guarín Cortés, Gloria Stella Lizarazo Figueroa and Lucy Amparo Oviedo Bonilla, the
State questions the identifications that were made based on inconsistencies in the clothing
that the disappeared person should have been wearing and the clothing in which they
presumably appear in the video (supra paras. 277, 279 and 280). 444 The Court considers
that these inconsistencies are not sufficient to disprove the identifications, because: (i) it is
reasonable that the next of kin do not recall the clothes that their loved one was wearing on
the day of the taking of the Palace of Justice, even a short time after the events, but more
so with the passing of the years, and (ii) since it is not known what happened to the
disappeared persons inside the Palace of Justice during the events, the possibility that they
exited with different clothes cannot be eliminated. 445 In this regard, the Court stresses that
the most important aspect of the identifications made by the next of kin is that they were
able to detect in some way the features, physical characteristics and way of walking of their
loved ones, over and above how they were dressed.
285. Second, in the cases of Cristina del Pilar Guarín Cortés and Lucy Amparo Oviedo
Bonilla, the images in which their departure from the Palace is presumably seen, have also
been identified as showing the exit of two other persons who were in the Palace of Justice
and regarding whom there is no doubt that they survived (supra paras. 277 and 280). The
Court does not have evidence to decide which of these identifications is true, but considers
that this does not allow it to eliminate completely the identifications made by the next of kin
of Ms. Guarín Cortés and Ms. Oviedo Bonilla in the said videos, which must be analyzed with
the rest of the body of evidence and the other indications that arise as regards their
possible exit from the Palace alive. Furthermore, the Court takes into account that, despite
having offered them as witnesses, the State did not present the testimony of the two
persons who supposedly have been confused in the videos with Cristina del Pilar Guarín
Cortés and Lucy Amparo Oviedo Bonilla, even though they were summoned to testify by the
President of the Court. While the next of kin ratified before the Court that they had
identified these presumed victims in the videos, the other two individuals did not confirm
that they were the persons in the videos. 446 The Court, as it has in other cases, 447 will take
could not have seen those who left by the main door.” Cf. Judgment of the Superior Court of Bogota of October 24,
2014 (evidence file, folios 38343, 38344 and 38346).
443
Cf. Testimony of Héctor Jaime Beltrán of February 20, 2006, before the Prosecution Service (evidence file, folio
28898). In the proceedings against the Commander of the 13th Brigade, the Superior Court considered that the
statement by the father of Mr. Beltrán Fuentes about what his wife had presumably seen “does not provide grounds
for a valid conclusion.” Cf. Judgment of the Superior Court of Bogota of October 24, 2014 (evidence file, folio 38343).
444
Cf. Judgment of the Superior Court of Bogota of January 30, 2012 (evidence file, folios 23111, 23117, 23165,
23180, 23190 to 23192).
445
The Court also underlines the decision of the Superior Court of Bogota in the proceedings against the
Commander of the 13th Brigade in which, based on principles relating to the psychology of visual perception and color
theory, it indicated that “[t]he perception of color is not the same for everyone,” “[t]wo people may interpret the same
color differently, and there can be as many interpretations of a color as there are people who see it.” Judgment of the
Superior Court of Bogota of October 24, 2014 (evidence file, folio 38293).
446
Cf. Affidavit made on November 6, 2013, by René Guarín Cortés (evidence file, folio 35751), and affidavit made
on November 7, 2013, by Dámaris Oviedo Bonilla (evidence file, folio 35833).
447
Cf. Case of González Medina and family members v. Dominican Republic. Preliminary objections, merits,
reparations and costs. Judgment of February 27, 2012. Series C No. 240, paras. 165 to 170.
101
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