82. On January 12, 1999, the Apiay Court instructed the 118th Military Criminal Investigation Court to conduct a preliminary inquiry.122 83. As regards the investigation carried out in the military criminal jurisdiction, on December 28, 1998, the court decided “to abstain from opening criminal proceedings against the members of the National Army attached to the Comuneros 36th Counter-Guerrilla Battalion for the events that occurred on the morning of December 13, 1998, in the village of Santo Domingo.”123 84. On March 29, 1999, the Criminalistics Division of the Administrative Department of Security (hereinafter “DAS”), carried out an expert appraisal on six samples of post-explosion residue.124 85. On May 20, 1999, the Military Preliminary Criminal Investigation Unit under a Colombian Air Force captain decided not to open an inquiry against the members of the latter for the deaths of persons in Santo Domingo during the fighting that took place from December 12 to 18, 1998.125 The Public Prosecution Service appealed this decision and, as a result, the Military Preliminary Criminal Investigation Unit decided not to open an inquiry and to forward authenticated copies of the investigation to the Human Rights Unit of the Prosecutor General’s Office where investigation 419 was already underway into the events of Santo Domingo, as well as to the Attorney General’s Office in order to begin a disciplinary inquiry.126 86. On February 11, 2000, in the preliminary investigation opened by the National Human Rights Unit, a judicial inspection was conducted in the village of Santo Domingo, with the participation of the experts in ballistics and explosives of the Technical Investigations Unit (hereinafter also “CTI”), accompanied by a human rights prosecutor, a delegate of the Attorney General’s Office, and an official from the Presidency of the Republic.127 87. On March 15, 2000, a judicial inspection was conducted at the Ordnance Warehouse of the Air Base of Apiay (Meta) in order to measure each piece of the AN-M1-A2 cluster bomb, to video them,128 and to compare the pieces with the “post-explosion” fragments recovered during the judicial inspection in Santo Domingo.129 88. On March 17, 2000, the Prosecutor General’s Office sent a letter to the legal attaché of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States of America (hereinafter “FBI”), requesting a technical report to help clarify the facts.130 On May 1, 2000, the FBI forwarded the technical report.131 89. On April 28, 2000, the reports of the judicial inspections and the topographical map were provided to the investigation. In order to make the expert appraisal, comparison patterns of the 122 Cf. 12th Criminal Court of the Trial Circuit of Bogotá D.C. with functions under Law 600 of 2000, First Instance Judgment, Case file 2005-102, September 24, 2009 (evidence file, tome 2, folio 302). 123 Colombian Military Forces, National Army, 12th Military Criminal Court of First Instance, Arauca, December 28, 1998, writ of prohibition (evidence file, tome 15, folio 7772). 124 Cf. Expert appraisal of March 29, 1999, Administrative Department of Security (hereinafter “DAS”), General Directorate of Investigations, Criminalistics Division (evidence file, tome 19, folio 9694 to 9696). 125 Cf. Colombian Military Forces, Air Force, IPME Office, Apiay (Villavicencio, Meta), May 20, 1999 (evidence file, tome 16, folio 8557 and ff.). 126 Cf. 12th Criminal Court of the Trial Circuit of Bogotá D.C. with functions under Law 600 of 2000, First Instance Judgment, Case file 2005-102, September 24, 2009 (evidence file, tome 2, folio 302). 127 Cf. Ballistics and explosives inspection and examination, expanded report of April 28, 2000. Investigation No. 419 UNDH, Prosecutor General’s Office (evidence file, tome 19, folio 9689 to 9691). 128 Video of the procedure carried out at Apiay made in 2003. Analysis headed by the CTI, demonstrating the destructive power and scope of an AN-M1A2 device launched from a helicopter (evidence file, tome 19, folio 9584). 129 Cf. Judicial inspection procedure of March 15, 2000, in the Weapons Warehouse of the Apiay Air Force Base (Meta), Prosecutor General’s Office, National Human Rights Unit (UNDH), Case file 419 (evidence file, tome 16, folios 8658 to 8661; tome 19, folios 9698 to 9700). 130 Cf. Letter sent by the Prosecutor General’s Office, on March 17, 2000, addressed to the FBI legal attaché (evidence file, tome 19, folios 9704 to 9706). 131 Cf. Technical Report of FBI Investigation dated May 1, 2000 (evidence file, tome 19, folios 9715 to 9726). ‐ 28 ‐