7. Jesús María Valle Jaramillo was a lawyer from the department of Antioquia, a university professor, and a civic leader devoted to the defense of human rights. In 1996 and 1997, attorney Valle actively denounced human rights violations committed by the paramilitary groups with the collaboration and acquiescence of members of the National Army in the municipality of Ituango, in northeastern Antioquia. 8. The petitioners indicate that from March 1995 to June 1996, the actors in the armed conflict committed a series of acts of harassment against the civilian population of Ituango, and it was rumored that the Army had drawn up a list of approximately 100 civilians–including Mr. Valle himself–to give direction to the selective executions carried out by paramilitary groups.1 As it appears from the record, Jesús María Valle alerted several national and departmental authorities regarding the need to adopt measures to protect the civilian population in the municipality of Ituango.2 9. Jesús María Valle reported the situation directly to the Commander of the IV Brigade, and to the then-governor of Antioquia. On July 10, 1997, he denounced through the media, the joint action by troops under the IV Brigade and paramilitary groups, after which he was sued for slander. 10. According to the information provided by the petitioners, on February 27, 1998, two men entered the office of Jesús María Valle Jaramillo in the city of Medellín while he was in a meeting with Mr. Fernando Jaramillo Correa, in the presence of his secretary and sister, Ms. Nelly Valle. The men bound the hostages and placed them on the floor, after which they shot Jesús María Valle Jaramillo in the head with a 38 caliber pistol. Attorney Valle died instantly. The petitioners allege that upon their arrival the assailants identified themselves as members of guerrilla groups however, before leaving the premises, they admitted to their connection with State agents by saying: “we do not belong to the Coordinadora Nacional Guerrillera; this man was very important to us and to the Army; he had become too involved with the Army.”3 11. The petitioners allege that the animosity of members of the Army towards Jesús María Valle Jaramillo stemmed from his reports relating to grave human rights violations in the municipality of Ituango and, specifically, to Army links to, collaboration with, and tolerance of paramilitary groups. They state that the Office of the Regional Prosecutor (Fiscalía Regional de Medellín) concluded that there was compelling evidence that his death had been perpetrated by members of paramilitary groups, under orders of the now-deceased General Alfonso Manosalva Flórez, Commander of the IV Army Brigade. 12. With respect to the admissibility of the claim, the petitioners allege that the requirement of prior exhaustion of domestic remedies provided for at Article 46(1) of the American Convention does not apply, as the case fits within the exception provided for in Article 46(2)(c) thereof. Specifically, they allege that there has been unwarranted delay in the administration of justice with respect to clarifying the facts surrounding the death of Jesús María Valle. 13. As for the proceeding, they indicate that the prosecutorial office in charge, the Fiscalía Regional de Medellín established the identity of seven suspects in the investigation and ordered their arrest. On May 21, 1999 it filed formal charges against them for the crimes of aggravated and qualified homicide (homicidio calificado), constitution of illegal armed groups, and kidnapping, along with three defendants in absentia. The petitioners indicate that the 1 The information in his reports coincided with the observations made in reports issued by official entities. Evaluative Report 139, File 1144 of the Procuraduría Departamental de Antioquia, of October 22, 1996, as well as the reports by the so-called Security Committee of May and June 1996, indicate the paramilitary presence in the zone. 2 Among the early warnings sounded and human rights violations reported by Jesús María Valle were the executions and forced displacement that occurred in the corregimientos of La Granja and El Aro in mid-1996, in relation to which the IACHR is studying allegations regarding possible state responsibility for violations of the American Convention. See Report 57/00 La Granja, Ituango, Annual Report of the IACHR 2000, and Report 75/01 El Aro, Ituango, Annual Report of the IACHR 2002. 3 Original petition submitted by the GIDH on August 2, 2001. The utterances by the assailants are extracted literally from the Resolution from the preliminary investigation into the accused in Case No. 26,017, Office of the Attorney General, Fiscalía Delegada ante los Jueces Regionales de Medellín, p. 3. 2