55 237. In conformity with Article 29.b of the American Convention, 262 and as the Inter-American Court has emphasized in the Case of the Mapiripán Massacre v. Colombia with regard to establishment of the international responsibility of the State in the instant case, the Court cannot set aside the existence of general and special duties of the State to protect the civilian population, derived from International Humanitarian Law, specifically Article 3 common of the August 12, 1949 Geneva Agreements and the provisions of the additional Protocol to the Geneva Agreements regarding protection of the victims of non-international armed conflicts (Protocol II). Due respect for the individuals protected entails passive obligations (not to kill, not to violate physical safety, etc), while the protection due entails positive obligations to impede violations against said persons by third parties. Carrying out said obligations is significant in the instant case, insofar as the massacre was committed in a situation in which civilians were unprotected in a non263 international armed conflict. 238. Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions expressly prohibits under all 264 circumstances violence against "persons not participating directly in hostilities" For its part, Article 13 of Protocol II enshrines the principle of civilian protection in the following terms: 1. The civilian population and individual civilians shall enjoy general protection against the dangers arising from military operations. To give effect to this protection, the following rules shall be observed in all circumstances 2. The civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians, shall not be the object of attack. Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited. 3. Civilians shall enjoy the protection afforded by this part, unless and for such time as they take a 265 direct part in hostilities. 239. Within these parameters, the Commission will assess whether the events described involve the international responsibility of the State for the execution and planning of "Operation Genesis" and for the paramilitary raids. 240. The Commission observes that it was the State itself that ordered and carried out a military operation whose bombardment caused damages to the civilian population, without protective or preventive measures being taken. With respect to the military counterinsurgency operation known as "Operation Genesis" - ordered by State agent Rito Alejo Del Río Rojas - the Commission emphasizes that the State has general and special duties to protect the civilian population under its care, derived from international humanitarian law, and observes that the bombings in the said operation were carried out indiscriminately, with no respect for the principle of distinction set out in Additional Protocol II to the 266 Geneva Conventions. Operational Order No.004/Genesis does not establish the adoption of preventive measures to avoid acts of violence and to protect the civilian population, nor to avoid the 262 Article 29.b of the American Convention on Human Rights - Rules of Interpretation: "No provision of this Convention shall be interpreted as: [..] b restricting the enjoyment or exercise of any right or freedom recognized by virtue of the laws of any State Party or by virtue of another convention to which one of the said states is a party [...]." 263 I/A Court H.R., Case of the Mapiripán Massacre v. Colombia. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of September 15, 2005. Series C No. 134, para. 114. 264 Colombia ratified the Geneva Conventions http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/WebSign?ReadForm&id=375&ps=P. on November 8, 1961. Available at: 265 Colombia ratified the Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions on August 14, 1995. Available at: http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/WebSign?ReadForm&id=475&ps=P. 266 In Article 13 of Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 relating to the protection of the victims of non-international armed conflicts reaffirms the principle of distinction: "(.) 1. The civilian population and individual civilians shall enjoy general protection against the dangers arising from military operations. To give effect to this protection, the following rules shall be observed in all circumstances. 2. The civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians, shall not be the object of attack. Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited." Colombia ratified this Protocol on August 14, 1995.