14
44.
That the Court notes that there has been a delay in the compliance with this
obligation since the term fixed to such end was of one year as of notice of the Judgment of
July 28, 2006. Nevertheless, the Tribunal acknowledges the efforts made by the State to
coordinate with the representatives the compliance with this measure of reparation and
observes that the State has made a counter proposal regarding the text of the
corresponding plaques, which shall be assessed by the representatives. In this sense, the
representatives shall have to answer such counter proposal of the State, as soon as
practicable; otherwise, such counter proposal would be deemed approved and the State
shall proceed to put up the plaque in the way suggested. Moreover, taking into account that
the State should have complied with this obligation on July 28, 2007, the Court considers
that such obligation should be fulfilled within the maximum term of three months as of
notice of this Order, in view of the real symbolic value of it.
*
*
*
45.
That regarding the duty to implement, within a reasonable time, permanent training
programs on human rights and international humanitarian law for the Colombian Armed
Forces, the State indicated in its report of August 27, 2007 that "it [was] preparing a
complete and detailed report on the issue to inform [...] the Tribunal on the compliance with
this and other judgments of the Inter-American Court".
46.
That, the representatives pointed out on July 4, 2008, that “no progress has been
made regarding this measure” and that in the meeting held in November 2006, they
expressed to the State “their interest in participating in training programs on human rights
and international humanitarian law for the law enforcement personnel”.
47.
That on March 12, 2009, the Commission noted "with concern that [...] the State has
not presented information [on] this measure of reparation and hopes it properly informs
[about it], considering that the training programs on human rights for the Armed Forces
constitute an essential element in the prevention of human rights violations".
48.
That even though the State has not presented updated information in that regard
within the procedure to monitor compliance with the Judgment in the case at hand, the
Tribunal is aware of the fact that the State informed, at the private hearing held on January
19, 2009 on the compliance with the Judgment of the Court in the case of the Mapiripán
Massacre V. Colombia, that a cooperation agreement was entered into with the United
Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and that three international
consultants were hired to conduct a study on the training of the Colombian Armed Forces.
In this sense, it informed that in the year 2006, the experts visited a large number of
military and police units and verified, in the report, the broad dissemination of human rights
and international humanitarian law issues and they determined that there was a training
program implemented together with the universities. Nevertheless, they found that the
Armed Forces, the Police and the high command acknowledge that there was a problem in
connection with human rights. Moreover, the State pointed out that it conducted a study on
the perception of human Rights in these bodies, which also evidenced some deficiencies.
These elements were good for the Ministry of Defense to design a "Comprehensive Policy on
Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law" in January 2008, including the
education and training as one of the five action points. The State explained, in detail, the
activities to be carried out to shape the training and emphasized the impact that this state
policy had on human rights issues, claiming, as way of example, that the Attorney General’s
Office received considerably less complaints in the last year. Moreover, it informed that an