99
case file, Mr. Jorge Aguilar has also been convicted to a prison term of 26 years and 4 months for the
crimes of murder of a protected person and retaliation, in ordering the murder of Ms. Yarce, and
assaults inflicted upon her prior to the murder.484
341. Regarding the identification and punishment of the two alleged responsible, the
petitioners believe that the murder of Ms. Yarce remains in impunity because the intellectual authors of
the crimes have yet to be identified and punished. In their view, the investigation “does not clearly and
conclusively reveal the truth about the facts, as the basic and fundamental premise of the State’s
obligation to investigate, and as part of the victims and their family members’ reparation.”485 They note
as well that “the investigation has not yielded positive results regarding the high military and
paramilitary command of the zone, who were involved in the murder of Mrs. Ana Teresa Yarce.”486
342. The Inter-American Court has defined impunity “as the absence of any investigation
pursuit, capture, prosecution and conviction of those responsible for the violations of rights protected
by the American Convention.”487 The Court has also held that when a State has convicted the persons
allegedly responsible in the context of the investigation, the impunity subsists to the extent that neither
the whole truth about the facts has been determined, nor all those responsible identified.488
343. It must be noted that the judicial conviction of the two participants in the murder of
Mrs. Ana Teresa Yarce represents a significant element in the view of the IACHR in its examination of the
suitability of the investigation undertaken in order to clarify these crimes. However, the IACHR must
consider in this examination to what extent do these convictions reflect an immediate, serious and
thorough investigation of the crimes.489
344. The case file before the IACHR pertaining to this investigation contains statements from
family members of Ana Teresa Yarce and from Maria del Socorro Mosquera and Mary Naranjo
identifying several members of the paramilitary forces who threatened Mrs. Yarce prior to her killing, in
addition to the participants who have already been punished, including the men known by the noms de
guerre of Cosa Mala, Pipe, Horacio, Octavio, Guajiro, and others such as Jaime Obregón, Juan Gabriel
and John James.490 The Office of the Public Prosecutor also established a nexus between these threats
484
Note DIDHD/GOI No. 77119/2954 from the Colombian State, November 15, 2012, p. 56; Colombian State’s Note
DIDHD.GAPID No. 25483/1121 dated May 5, 2011, page 4. Provisional Measures Case File.
485
Observations of the Petitioners in reference to the matter of Miryam Eugenia Rúa et al –– Comuna 13 – November
22, 2011, pg. 23.
486
Observations of the Petitioners in reference to the matter of Miryam Eugenia Rúa Figueroa et al – Case 12.595
dated May 3, 2012, pg. 7.
487
IA Court of HR, Case of the Massacres of Ituango. Judgment July 1, 2006. Series C No. 148, par. 299.
488
IA Court of HR, Case of the Massacres of Ituango. Judgment July 1, 2006. Series C No. 148, par 320.
489
IA Court of HR, Case of Godínez Cruz v. Honduras. Judgment January 20, 1989. Series C No. 5, par. 188; IA Court of
HR, Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Judgment July 29, 1988. Series C No. 4, par. 177; IA Court of HR, Case of the
“Street Children” (Villagrán Morales et al) v. Guatemala. Judgment November 19, 1999. Series C No. 63, par. 226.
490
Annex 69. Statement of Mónica Dulfary Orozco Yarce, Office of the Attorney General of the Nation, File: 2169,
August 3, 2005; Annex 70. Statement of Shirley Vanessa Yarce, Office of the Attorney General of the Nation, File: 2169,
September 7, 2005; Annex 72. Statement of Mery Naranjo, Office of the Attorney General of the Nation, December 13, 2004,
Criminal proceeding on the murder of Mrs. Ana Teresa Yarce; Annex 73. Statement of Maria del Socorro Mosquera, Office of
the Attorney General of the Nation, December 16, 2004; Annex 82. Addendum to the Testimony given by Mrs. Mosquera on