“that is not that way, I think not, because he came out with the subject who went without a shirt and earlier
we had seen them drinking.” 201
125.
Soldier Nixon Botia Acosta, who was a sentry in “el Aeropuerto” with lieutenant “Portilla”,
indicated that “at one in the morning” soldier Rodríguez Burgos arrived who indicated he was hurt and
showed him “the hand, he was cut” and told him “I almost got killed”. He stated that he reported these events
to the Lieutenant, who “got up and remained talking”. He stated that Soldier Burgos was not drunk. 202
According to the soldier Hernán Cordero, a nurse at the counter-guerilla unit, Soldier Burgos “had a cut to the
three fingers of the right hand, the little, the ring finger and the middle”. 203
126.
In relation to the mission that soldier Burgos went to perform, Captain Franco Jesús
Enríquez Hidalgo clarified that “he was obeying orders” which “were to deliver food supplies … and at the
same time find him a collaborator that worked in Hato Corozal”. He stated that “when he talked to the soldier
he had a series of wounds on the hand, which he told me had been caused by the attacker”. He stated that
after he was inquiring in person about Mr. Uva Velandia and they “commented that in reality […] he was part
of a subversive group of the E.L.N. and that he worked as […] a “truck driver” and “that by using that façade
he served the subversive group” 204
127.
The cause of death was “a secondary hypovolemic shock to hemothorax, a secondary
massive wound by a sharp weapon that compromised the right pulmonary hilum”.205 It was identified that the
body had “parallel circular hematomas on each wrist” and a total of 14 wounds caused by a sharp weapon,
three of them in the posterior thoraxic region”. 206 The body had a naked torso, blue jean pants and no shoes.
It was “dorsal decubitus/or supine, arms more or less 80 degrees separate from the body, inferior limbs bent
at a right angle and joined and the head was pointing toward the south”. The body had wounds caused in
totality by a sharp weapon: 5 of one centimeter located in the right ribs; 1 on the right shoulder; 1 on the
thorax; 1 in the sternum; and ligature marks on both wrists.”207
b.
Considerations of the Commission
128.
The petitioner alleged from the outset in the initial petition that what happened to Carlos
Arturo Uva Velandia was an extrajudicial execution by a soldier, which entails the responsibility of the State.
Likewise, the State recognized that Mr. Carlos Uva Velandia was murdered by a person who was a soldier,
nevertheless, it indicated that said act, punished domestically, does not entail its international responsibility,
because it is not proven that the perpetrator acted on the instructions nor with acquiescence of the State, nor
that it was related to an act of service, on the contrary, the members of the Army, took reasonable measures
to avoid, by his individual conduct, that Soldier Rodríguez Burgos, murdered Mr. Carlos Arturo Uva Velandia.
129.
The Commission considers it pertinent to recall that the cause of the death of Mr. Carlos Uva
Velandia was Mr. Juan Alexis Rodríguez Burgos, who at the time of the events was a soldier in the National
Army and was assigned to the Grupo de Caballería Montado N. 7 “Guias de Casanare” fulfilling a mission
consisting in delivering food rations and locating a “collaborator” who worked in Hato Corozal. In this regard,
201 Annex. 66. Report of the Sworn Testimony (testimony) of soldier Monzo Edgar Enrique before Court 120 of Military
Criminal Instruction, December 19, 1992 Annex 1.
202 Annex. 67. Report of the Sworn Testimony (testimony) of soldier Botía Acosta before Court 120 of Military Criminal
Instruction, December 20, 1992 Annex 1.
203 Annex. 68. Report of the Sworn Testimony (testimony) of soldier Hernán Cordero Castro before Court 120 of Military
Criminal Instruction, December 21, 1992 Annex 1.
204 Annex. 69. Report of the Sworn Testimony (testimony) of Captain of the National Army, Franco Jesús Enríquez Hidalgo
before Court 120 of Military Criminal Instruction, October 9, 1992 Annex 1.
205 Annex.
70. Servicio Seccional de Salud de Casanare, Necropsy, June 21, 1991. Annex 1.
206Annex.
70. Servicio Seccional de Salud de Casanare, Necropsy, June 21, 1991. Annex 1.
207 Annex.
47. Diligence of body collection, June 21, 1992. Annex 1.