82
integrity, to protection of the family, and the rights of the child of Ms. Rúa, Ospina, Mosquera and
Naranjo, and their next of kin.
3.
Forced displacement and the right to personal integrity
284. The IACHR notes that the presence of displaced persons on national territory entails for
the State the primary responsibility to ensure their integrity, security, and wellbeing.388 This includes an
obligation under Article 5.1 to afford special treatment to those affected and to adopt positive measures
to reverse the effects of the forced displacement.389
285. The IACHR has noted the special impact that forced displacement has on women and
heads of household, mostly in terms of the radical, traumatic and sudden change in their family
structure and roles, geography, culture, community and socioeconomic standing, and their exposure to
threats, violence and discrimination based on their gender, perpetrated by either the actors of the
armed conflict who caused the displacement, or the receiving populations.390 Such women usually face
deprivation and social and economic difficulties in the receiving community, which prevent them from
re-establishing their lives.391 Both the IACHR and the United Nations Rapporteur on Violence against
Women have also documented how threats to the security and physical integrity of displaced women
can extend to the communities in which they seek refuge.392
286. The Constitutional Court of Colombia has ruled in Judgment T-025-04 on the minimum
necessary protection that must be afforded to the displaced population in Colombia. It encompasses a
set of important rights for women, including the following: the right to be registered; to receive special
protection; to receive immediate aid for a period of three months; to receive a document accrediting
their registry in the health promotion entity; to return home in safe circumstances; and to have specific
circumstances of their personal situation be identified to define how they can generate income.393 In
applying these principles, the IACHR has established that the humanitarian aid of which the displaced
population should be the beneficiary not only involves financial support, but also includes the guarantee
of basic services of food, shelter, health care and education.394
388
IACHR, Third Report on the Human Rights Situation in Colombia, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.102, Doc. 9, rev. 1, February 26,
1999, Chapter VI, Internal Forced Displacement, par. 4.
389
IACHR, Merits Report No. 64/11, Case 12.573, Marino López et al (Operation Génesis), Colombia, March 31, 2011,
par. 300.
390
IACHR, Violence and Discrimination against Women in the Armed Conflict in Colombia, OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc. 67,
October 18, 2006, par. 70.
391
IACHR, Violence and Discrimination against Women in the Armed Conflict in Colombia, OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc. 67,
October 18, 2006, par. 80.
392
See United Nations, Report submitted by Mrs. Rhadika Coomaraswamy, Special Rapporteur on violence against
women, its causes and consequences: Mission to Colombia (November 1-7, 2001), March 11, 2002, par. 63..
393
IACHR, Violence and Discrimination against Women in the Armed Conflict in Colombia, OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc. 67,
October 18, 2006, par. 191.
394
par. 306.
IACHR, Merits Report No. 64/11, Case 12.573, Marino López et al (Operation Génesis), Colombia, March 31, 2011,