II. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES A. The petitioners 8. The petitioners allege that around the middle of July 1997 members of the Colombian National Army, including senior officers in charge of the military units garrisoned in the area, deliberately allowed close to one hundred members of the AUC to enter the area of the municipality of Mapiripán, Department of El Meta, by air and river, and mobilized the military forces to other localities, in order to enable the paramilitary forces to have complete freedom to terrorize and massacre the civilian population. 9. The petitioners’ briefs, supported by official documents, state that at the time of the events the area of Mapiripán was under the control and protection of the Joaquín Paris Battalion of San José del Guaviare, commanded by Colonel Carlos Eduardo Avila Beltrán, assigned to the Seventh Brigade under the command of General Jaime Humberto Uscátegui Ramírez. Despite the critical status of public order in the area,1 from early to mid-July 1997 the Seventh Brigade supervised the mobilization of the Joaquín Paris Battalion to the localities of Calamar, El Retorno, and Puerto Concordia. As a result, the residents of San José del Guaviare and Mapiripán were left without military protection.2 10. The petitioners allege that members of the AUC, aboard a series of irregular flights from Neclocí and Apartadó, landed in San José del Guaviare on July 12, 1997. The passengers, together with their equipment, were picked up on the airport runway in the style of a military operation, without being subjected to any type of control, despite the permanent presence there of a police counter-narcotics base.3 It should be mentioned that one of the aircraft was allegedly carrying cargo intended for Army personnel.4 11. On their way from San José del Guaviare to Mapiripán, the paramilitary group is alleged to have passed through troop training areas of the Second Mobile Brigade commanded by Colonel Lino Hernando Sánchez Prado, to be precise the area known as “El Barrancón”, without being challenged or stopped by the military forces. The paramilitaries eventually entered Mapiripán on July 15, 1997 by land and river. 12. The petitioners allege that over the five days that followed the paramilitaries terrorized the local residents and brutally tortured and murdered members of the community. After being dismembered, disemboweled and beheaded, the corpses of the victims were thrown into the River Guaviare. As a result, the judicial authorities allegedly were prevented from establishing the exact number of the deceased. 13. The petitioners allege that General Uscátegui Ramírez was informed of these brutal acts by Official Communication 2919 of July 15, 1997.5 However, he is alleged to have instructed the 1 Testimonies of Municipal Court Judge [Juez de la localidad], Leonardo Iván Cortés Novoa and Colonel Mauricio Hernán Martínez, Commander of the Seventh Brigade, cited by the Human Rights Unit of the Prosecutor General’s Office in its decision of June 21, 1999, on the conflict of jurisdiction advanced by the Commander of the National Army in cases UDH 244 and 443 concerning Brigadier General Jaime Humberto Uscátegui and four other officers of the Colombian National Army. 2 Testimonies of Colonel Lino Hernando Sánchez Prado and Major Hernán Orozco Castro, cited by the Human Rights Unit of the Prosecutor General’s Office in its decision of June 21, 1999, on the conflict of jurisdiction advanced by the Commander of the National Army in cases UDH 244 and 443 concerning Brigadier General Jaime Humberto Uscátegui and four other officers of the Colombian National Army. 3 Testimonies of Sergeant José Miller Ureña Díaz and Corporal Cabo Leonardo Montoya Rubiano, cited by the Human Rights Unit of the Prosecutor General’s Office in its decision of June 21, 1999, on the conflict of jurisdiction advanced by the Commander of the National Army in cases UDH 244 and 443 concerning Brigadier General Jaime Humberto Uscátegui and four other officers of the Colombian National Army. 4 The petitioners say that “onboard one of the aircraft (a DC 3993P) used to transport the paramilitary group from Urabá [..] a strange package was left behind that was addressed to a Colonel and a General of the Army in the region, which a number of noncommissioned officers were very eager and anxious to recover at the control tower. This fact is shown by the testimonies of the air traffic controller at San José airport and the air traffic controller at Villavicencio airport, and in the transcription of the radio communications between these two officials.” Communication of October 6, 1999. 5 See Enquiry of the official Orozco Castro and copy of the substitute official communication, cited by the Human Rights Unit of the Prosecutor General’s Office in its decision of June 21, 1999, on the conflict of jurisdiction advanced 2