times, it is necessary to apply presumptions in the face of the needs for protection. 10 The
Court has also indicated that, despite the foregoing, maintaining the measures of protection
requires the Court to make a more rigorous assessment as regards the persistence of the
situation that gave rise to them. 11
47.
As revealed by the Orders issued previously by this Court (supra having seen
paragraphs 1, 2 and 3), as well as this Order, elements of risk persist for the life and
integrity of the inhabitants of the humanitarian zones of Nueva Esperanza, Pueblo Nuevo,
Caño Claro and El Tesoro, and of the five biodiversity zones known as Erasmo Sierra,
Enrique Petro, Familia Tuberquia, Ligia María Chaverra and Efrén Romaña (supra
considering paragraph 5). This has not been contested by the State. To the contrary, the
State has argued that it has adopted measures to protect the members of the communities
of the Jiguamiandó and of the Curvaradó. This is also recorded in the Orders issued in this
matter and in the decisions handed down by the Constitutional Court of Colombia (supra
considering paragraphs 31, 36 and 37, and infra considering paragraphs 49 to 56).
However, neither the Commission nor the representatives has specifically referred to the
different State measures implemented, but rather they have argued, in general, that these
have been neither sufficient nor effective.
48.
The information presented by the State (supra considering paragraphs 30 to 38)
reveals that different authorities, such as the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of
Defense, the Attorney General’s Office, the Ombudsman’s Office, the Presidential Human
Rights and International Humanitarian Law Program, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are
carrying out the coordination, design, implementation and supervision of the measures of
protection, which presumably cover all the members of the communities of the Jiguamiandó
and of the Curvaradó, including the beneficiaries of the provisional measures ordered by this
Court.
49.
In addition, the Court underlines that both the State, and the representatives and
the Inter-American Commission have indicated that the Constitutional Court of Colombia
has also ordered various State agencies to respond to the situation of the communities of
the Jiguamiandó and of the Curvaradó, and to implement measures of protection in their
favor. Owing to their relevance, the Court will now refer to the decisions handed down by
the Constitutional Court in this matter:
1) The case file contains a copy of Judgment T-025 of January 22, 2004, delivered
by the Constitutional Court approximately one year after these provisional measures
were ordered, in which, inter alia, it declared “the existence of a state of
unconstitutionality concerning the living conditions of the internally displaced
population.” In this regard, it considered that “both the national and the territorial
authorities, within their sphere of competence, must adopt the corrective measures
that allow this situation to be rectified.”
10
Cf. Case of Raxcacó Reyes et al. Provisional measures with regard to Guatemala. Order of the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights of August 30, 2004, tenth considering paragraph, and Case of the Barrios Family.
Provisional measures with regard to Venezuela. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of February 13,
2013, fourteenth considering paragraph.
11
Cf. Matter of the Kankuamo Indigenous People. Provisional measures with regard to Colombia. Order of
the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of April 3, 2009, seventh considering paragraph, and Case of Gutiérrez
Soler. Provisional measures with regard to Colombia. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of
October 23, 2012, fifteenth considering paragraph.
19