harm to victims and their relatives,” to the point that, in the words of that group, “��� not knowing
the whereabouts of a family member can amount to torture.”196
174. This Court has ruled that the presumption of the violation of the right to personal integrity
is established juris tantum with regard to mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, spouses and
permanent companions, and sisters and brothers of victims of certain human rights violations,
provided that this accords with the particular circumstances of the case. 197 In this case,
moreover, Colombia has acknowledged the violation of the personal integrity of Mr. Movilla’s
wife, Candelaria Nuris Vergara Carriazo; of his sons and daughter: Carlos Julio Movilla Vergara,
José Antonio Movilla Vergara, and Jenny del Carmen Movilla Vergara; and of his sister Leonor
Movilla Galarcio. The State maintained that Pedro Movilla’s other sisters should be excluded as
alleged victims, but this argument has already been rejected (supra Chapter V). Therefore,
Colombia’s substantive reasons for acknowledging the violation of the personal integrity of
Leonor Movilla Galarcio should be considered as also applying to his other sisters.
175. However, the Court notes that, in addition to his parents, children, siblings and spouse,
other family members of Pedro Movilla have been identified as victims. There are testimonies
highlighting how the human rights violations affected not only those people already mentioned,
but also others, as well as the family as a whole. Thus, in his testimony, Carlos Movilla Vergara
describes the effects on his family group. In detailing the detrimental change the family
experienced, he stated, among other things, that “we were all sad, we were no longer the happy
family we had been and we became a shadow of what we were.” 198 Similarly, in her testimony
Jenny Movilla Vergara spoke of the family’s isolation, pointing out that “I feel that [Candelaria
Vergara] fell into a very deep depression,” that “everything was broken” and that “the
relationship among [the three] brothers and sisters was fractured.”199 Carlos Movilla Vergara
highlighted the importance of his father to his sisters, brothers and nephews. He stated that
Pedro Movilla “was not only responsible for [his children],” adding that “[w]henever he could, he
went to his sisters’ homes, he looked out for them and made sure they were okay,” and that
“when he disappeared, it also broke them, it broke my aunts and the dynamic that there had
been with them and my father’s nephews, my cousins. For my cousins and for my aunts and
uncles, my father was the heart, he was the cornerstone of the family group, and he was an
example to follow.”200 Jenny Movilla Vergara said the same thing.201 José Antonio Movilla Vergara
also reported having noticed changes in his father’s family when he saw them again ten years
later.202
176. Referring to some of his relatives, Carlos Movilla Vergara spoke of Pedro Movilla’s
relationship with Erasmo de la Barrera Movilla and Raúl Rafael Ramos Movilla, stating that “he
was very close to Erasmo and Raúl.” He explained that “[t]hey were [my] cousins, but about the
same age as [Pedro Movilla],” who was like Erasmo and Raúl Rafael’s “older brother.” Carlos
Julio said the two of them “suffered a lot” when Mr. Movilla disappeared, “the dynamic between
them was also destroyed, they were also victims. 203 Similarly, when expert Yeiny Carolina Torres
Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances on standards and public policies for
the effective investigation of enforced disappearances. Document A/HRC/45/13/Add.3 of August 7, 2020, para. 60. The
Court clarifies that the mention of “torture” by the Working Group in the citation does not mean that this Court
automatically considers that not knowing the whereabouts of a forcibly disappeared person implies an act of torture.
Nonetheless, the citation does underscore the seriousness and scope of the situation, which may result in harm to
personal integrity, contrary to Article 5(2) of the American Convention.
197
Case of Blake v. Guatemala. Merits, supra, para. 114, Case of Rodríguez Vera et al. (The Disappeared from the
Palace of Justice) v. Colombia, supra, para. 533.
198
Written statement of Carlos Julio Movilla Vergara (evidence file, folios 11832 to 11853).
199
Written statement of Jenny Movilla Vergara (evidence file, folios 11879 to 11902).
200
Written statement of Carlos Julio Movilla Vergara (evidence file, folios 11832 to 11853).
201
Written statement of Jenny Movilla Vergara (evidence file, folios 11879 to 11902).
202
Written statement of José Antonio Movilla Vergara (evidence file, folios 11904 to 11927).
203
Written statement of Carlos Julio Movilla Vergara (evidence file, folios 11832 to 11853).
196
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