102
The Court’s findings
252.
Article 5(1) and 5(2) of the Convention establish:
1. Every person has the right to have his physical, mental, and moral integrity
respected.
2. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment
or treatment. All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated regarding for the
inherent dignity of the human person.
253. In this section, the Court will refer successively to the alleged violation of
Article 5 of the Convention in relation to the victims who were executed in the
massacres of La Granja and El Aro; their next of kin; the persons detained and
obliged to herd livestock; the persons who lost their possessions; the persons
displaced, and the inhabitants of La Granja and El Aro who do not fall into the
previous categories.
a)
Concerning the alleged violation of the right to humane treatment of
the victims executed in the massacres of La Granja and El Aro
254. The Court notes that, according to the State’s acknowledgement of
responsibility, the massacres in La Granja and El Aro were perpetrated by a large
number of heavily-armed individuals, using extreme violence on the population,
intimidating the inhabitants by death threats, and executing people publicly and
arbitrarily. The persons executed in La Granja and El Aro witnessed these
threatening acts before their death, together with the violent death and torture of
their companions. This context of violence and threats caused the victims who were
subsequently executed, intense fear of suffering the same consequences (supra
paras. 125(33) to 125(40) and 125(57) to 125(79)).
255. The Court has maintained that, when it is sufficiently real and imminent, the
mere threat of a conduct prohibited by Article 5 of the American Convention may, in
itself, violate this article. In other words, creating a threatening situation or
threatening an individual with torture may, in some circumstances, constitute
inhumane treatment.222
256. In this case, it has been proved that the personal integrity of the 19 persons
who lost their life in the Ituango Massacres was violated and that the treatment they
received during the hours before their death was extremely violent, particularly when
it is considered that the “paramilitary group” believed that these people collaborated
with the guerrilla groups – in the context of the conflict in the zone, this could be
interpreted as a serious threat to life. Also, we can infer that the way in which the
massacres were perpetrated caused the alleged victims to fear and anticipate that
they would be deprived of their life violently and arbitrarily, which constituted cruel
and inhuman treatment.
257. Based on the above, the Court considers that, in this case, there are sufficient
elements of proof to conclude that Colombia is responsible for the violation of the
222
Cf. Case of Baldeón García, supra note 5, para. 119; Case of Tibi, supra note 176, para. 147; and
Case of the 19 Tradesmen. Judgment of July 5, 2004. Series C No. 109, para. 149. Likewise, cf.
Eur.C.H.R., Campbell and Cosans, Judgment of 25 February 1982, Series A, No. 48, p. 12, § 26.
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