Janeth Naranjo, Alejandro Naranjo, Juan David Naranjo and Socorro Mosquera Londoño. 1 On July 3, 2006, the Commission filed a request with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter the “Inter-American Court”) seeking provisional measures pursuant to Article 63(2) of the American Convention. The Court issued an order for the adoption of provisional measures on July 5, 2006.2 As of the date of the adoption of this report, the parties continue to submit follow-up reports on fulfillment of the provisional measures. III. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES A. The petitioners 7. By way of context, the petition states that Comuna 13 in the city of Medellín is made up of 22 districts, which are home to some 130 thousand people. Most subsist on less than the minimum wage. Given these conditions, combined with the lack of state policies geared toward finding an effective solution to the situation, the districts in the Comunabecame a breeding ground for various types of illicit organizations, like militia –some under the influence of the guerrilla movement, some not-, armed commando groups and gangs of common criminals. These organizations have turf battles with members of the self-defense groups belonging to the Cacique Nutibara and Metro blocks.3 8. The petitioners assert that in response to the increased presence of these groups, a series of joint military operations were conducted in 2002, in a clamp down aimed at crushing these groups. Operación Mariscal was conducted on May 21, 2002, followed byOperación Potestad in June, then Operaciön Antorcha in August and Operación Orión in October. These were joint operations, involving members of the National Army’s Fourth Brigade; members of the National Police Force attached to the Antioquia Police Command; personnel from the Administrative Security Department (DAS); members of the Colombian Air Force (FAC); members of the Technical Investigations Corps (CTI); and personnel attached to the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation.4 The petitioners contend that some 350 people were detained in Operation Orion; 170 of these were turned over to the judicial authorities. 9. The petitioners allege further that in the wake of these operations, paramilitary groups became a stronger presence in Medellín’s Comuna 13. They also allege that as a consequence of these operations, many civic and social organizations disbanded because of the threats and persecution that their members suffered. One such organization was the Las Independencias Women’s Association [Asociación de Mujeres de Las Independencias - AMI].5 1 On October 22, 2004, the IACHR requested precautionary measures for Mery Naranjo Jiménez and her family and Socorro Mosquera Londoño, members of the Communal Action Board of the Las Independencias III district in Comuna 13 in Medellín. The available information indicates that on October 7, 2004, Mrs. Mery Naranjo witnessed the murder of Ana Teresa Yarce, auditor of the Communal Action Board of which she was a member. After that, Mery Naranjo was forced to leave home for the sake of her own safety. A few days later, unknown persons approached her daughter to intimidate her. Given the situation of the precautionary measures’ beneficiaries and the violence and intimidation that paramilitary groups were practicing against community leaders in Medellín’s Comuna 13, the Commission decided to ask the Colombian Government to adopt the measures needed to guarantee the life and physical integrity of Mery Naranjo Jiménez, Alba Mery Naranjo, Sandra Janneth Naranjo, Alejandro Naranjo, Juan David Naranjo and Socorro Mosquera Londoño and to report on the measures adopted to investigate and stop the threats that necessitated the adoption of precautionary measures. 2 By an order dated July 5, 2006, the Court ordered the State, inter alia, to immediately adopt the measures necessary to protect the rights to life and to personal integrity of Mery Naranjo Jiménez and her next of kin, Juan David Naranjo Jiménez, Alejandro Naranjo Jiménez, Sandra Janeth Naranjo Jiménez, Alba Mery Naranjo Jiménez, Erika Johann Gómez, Javier Augusto Torres Durán, Heidi Tatiana Naranjo Gómez, Sebastián Naranjo Jiménez, María Camila Naranjo Jiménez, Aura María Amaya Naranjo, Esteban Torres Naranjo, María del Socorro Mosquera Londoño and Luisa María Escudero Jiménez. The Court reiterated its order in a decision it delivered on September 22, 2006. In 2006 and 2007, the Commission presented information and observations concerning the provisional measures, as ordered by the Court. The text of these orders is available athttp://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/medidas/naranjo_se_01.doc andhttp://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/medidas/naranjo_se_02.doc. 3 Information supplied in the original petition which the IACHR received on March 7, 2005, pp. 5 and 6. 4 Information supplied in the original petition which the IACHR received on March 7, 2005. 5 Women organization established in 1996, it groups women heads of family with the purpose to obtain the social recognition of the woman. It takes part in the recognized Colombian Women’s Organization Network and in the Pacific Route of Women in Latin America. 2