11
consequences, but to verify only the compliance with the obligations stipulated in the
ruling by the responsible State. Therefore, the Court needs to have the necessary
information, which must be provided by the State, the Commission and the victims
or their representatives. Furthermore, the General Assembly to the OAS repeated
that, in order for the Tribunal to fully meet its obligation to report to the General
Assembly on compliance with its judgments, the States Parties to the Convention
need to provide, in time fashion, the information requested by the Court. 6. In this
way, for the sake of complying with its role in monitoring compliance with the
measures of reparation regarding the violations committed to the detriment of the
victims and in the presence of both parties to an action, the Court shall assess, in
each case, the need, convenience or relevance of maintaining the confidentiality of
the information furnished in relation to its use in the order but not in relation to the
parties’ access to it.
13.
That in the instant case, Colombia has submitted certain information related
to the investigations, which has been transmitted and learnt by the representatives
and the Commission, but the State requests the Tribunal not to publish such
information in the monitoring compliance orders. The Court shall take into account all
the information provided and shall include in this order only the essential part of
such information, in order to determine the level of compliance with this operative
paragraph. As to the other allegations of the State (supra Considering clause 8), the
Court has pointed out, as in previous cases, that it is not a criminal court which can
analyze the criminal responsibility of individuals, 7 and therefore, the Court shall not
analyze in this stage all the dimensions of the investigations and internal
proceedings, but only the level of compliance with the order established in the
Judgment.
14.
That, the State informed that on March 6, 2008, the Criminal Cassation
Division of the Supreme Court of Justice handed down an unprecedented decision in
the country regarding the appeal for review filed by the 24th Prosecutor's Office in
Criminal Judicial Matters II, in relation to the criminal proceedings conducted against
members of law enforcement agencies who are allegedly associated with facts of the
instant case at the military criminal courts. 8 Afterwards, the State referred to
proceedings as part of the investigations conducted by the Human Rights Unit, such
as the gathering of statements, judicial inspections, commissions to different parts of
the country and requests for justice and peace filed with prosecutors. In addition, as
6
General Assembly, Order AG/ RES 2408 (XXXVIII-O/08 adopted at the fourth plenary session,
held on June 3, 2008, entitled “Observations and Recommendations on the Annual Report of the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights.”
7
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez V. Honduras. Merits. Judgment of July 29, 1988. Series C Nº 4
para. 134; Case of Yvon Neptune V. Haití. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of May 6, 2008. Series
C No. 180, para. 37; Case of Suárez Rosero V. Ecuador. Merits. Judgment of November 12, 1997. Series C
No. 35, para. 37. See also, Case of Boyce et al. V. Barbados. Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations
and Costs. Judgment of November 20, 2007. Series C Nº 169, footnote 37 and case of Zambrano Vélez et
al. V. Ecuador. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of July 4, 2007. Series C No. 166, para. 93.
8
In this decision, the Supreme Court decided to declare the proceedings conducted at the military
criminal court to be unfounded, as to the decision to close the investigation and the order to discontinue
the proceedings in favor of several people, both of the year 1997. The Supreme Court decided to remit the
proceedings to the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Unit of the Solicitor General's Office
in order to continue with the investigations, which have been interrupted since the Solicitor General’s
Office was forced to decline jurisdiction according to the decision made by the Superior Council of
Judicature in 1996. The State mentioned that said judgment constitutes “an important step towards the
protection of human rights in Colombia and that it complies with the decisions of the Inter-American
Court.”