84
Finally, the lack of differentiated care for the displaced due to their more vulnerable condition also
constitutes a failure in the international obligations assumed by the State.
379.
It is appropriate to reemphasize that the group of victims in the present case is made up
of 446 displaced Afro-descendant victims of the armed conflict, of whom 117 are children, 195 are women
and one group are women head of household. In this sense, the notion of intersectionality applies to this
group of victims, in view of the fact they suffer from many kinds of discrimination from a combination of
causes, among which are: their displaced status, their gender, ethnicity and status as children.
380.
With regard to the women head of household, UNIFEM confirms that the change in roles
and responsibilities caused by the displacement are inextricably linked to the need to guarantee the basic
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necessities of the families and to the opportunities there are to achieve it.
The Commission has
stressed that forced by the circumstances, the displaced women have had to assume responsibility for
the economic welfare of their families, to learn to acknowledge and solve their own problems in the world
at large. They must turn to the various State and private agencies to arrange the humanitarian
assistance set out in the legislation referring to internal forced displacement, to participate in various
organizations to claim their rights and to manage different and complex spatial and cultural references in
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comparison to those from their place of origin.
381.
Consequently, the Commission concludes that the State is responsible for the violation of
its obligation to guarantee and respect the rights without any discrimination on grounds of race or color
and the right to equal protection before the law, by reason of the breaches caused by "Operation
Genesis", the paramilitary raids, and the subsequent forced displacement suffered by the Afrodescendant communities of Cacarica associated in CAVIDA, and by the women head of household living
in Turbo, in conformity with Article 22 in relation to Articles 1.1 and 24 of the American Convention.
382.
From a combined reading of the context, background and events in the present case, the
Commission reiterates the existence of a systematic pattern of these types of operations in the region at
the time relevant to the events. In this respect, it is appropriate to stress that the forced movement of a
population is characterized as a crime against humanity in Article 7.1.d of the Statute of the International
Criminal Court (hereinafter ICC), whenever it is committed as part of a widespread or systematic practice
against members of a civilian population and with knowledge of this said attack. Its Article 7.2.d defines
that: "'[d]eportation or forcible transfer of population' means forced displacement of the persons
concerned by expulsion or other coercive acts from the area in which they are lawfully present, without
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grounds permitted under international law".
For its part, the ICCFY has considered the forcible transfer
of persons a crime against humanity under the criminal conduct "other inhuman acts" set out in Article 5.1
of its Statute. This Tribunal has defined deportation or forcible transfer of civilians as "the forced
displacement of the persons concerned by expulsion or other coercive acts from the area in which they
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are lawfully present, without grounds permitted under international law".
383.
Finally, as recognized by the Constitutional Court, displacement in Colombia represents a
massive, prolonged and systematic violation. Similarly, the Commission reiterates (see supra IV C.3) the
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Annex 105. IACHR. Violence and Discrimination against Women in the Armed Conflict in Colombia,
OEA/Ser.L/V/II.Doc. 67, October 18, 2006, para. 76. Cites: UN Fund for the Development of Women, Report on the Situation of
Women in Colombia, September 2005, p. 22 and Colombian Women in Search of Peace: Close Analysis of their Initiatives and
Proposals, 2004, pp. 23-24. At: http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/ColombiaMujeres06eng/TOC.htm.
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Annex 105. IACHR. Violence and Discrimination against Women in the Armed Conflict in Colombia,
OEA/Ser.L/V/II.Doc. 67, October 18, 2006, para. 76. At: http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/ColombiaMujeres06eng/TOC.htm.
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Rome Statute of the ICC, approved on July 17, 1998, by the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries
on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, A/CONF.183/9.
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Annex 106. ICTY. Judgment of the First Instance Chamber, Blaskic Case, March 3, 2000, para. 234. At:
http://www.icty.org/x/cases/blaskic/tjug/en/bla-tj000303e.pdf. “Traditionally, the distinction between forcible transfer and deportation
is that the first one consists of forced displacements of individuals within state borders, with the second one consists of forced
displacement beyond internationally recognised state borders”. Annex 107. ICTY, Judgment of the First Instance Chamber, Case of
Blagojevic and Jokic, of January 17, 2005, para. 595. At: http://www.icty.org/x/cases/blagojevic_jokic/tjug/en/bla-050117e.pdf.