132. Therefore, the Court finds that the State is not responsible for the violation of the
right to life enshrined in Article 4 of the Convention, in relation to the obligation to
guarantee rights established in Article 1(1), to the detriment of Joe Luis Castillo González.
For the same reason, the Court also considers that the State is not responsible for the
violation of the right to personal integrity and rights of the child, enshrined in Articles 5(1)
and 19 of the Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) of that instrument, to the detriment of
Yelitze Moreno, with respect to the first right, and of Luis Castillo, with respect to both
Articles.
VI.2
RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL [JUDICIAL GUARANTEES] AND JUDICIAL PROTECTION IN
RELATION TO THE OBLIGATION TO RESPECT AND GUARANTEE RIGHTS
Position of the Commission and arguments of the parties
133. The Commission considered it pertinent to assess the investigation of the facts in
accordance with the United Nations Protocol for a Legal Investigation of Extra-legal,
Arbitrary and Summary Executions (hereinafter “Minnesota Protocol”), which “establishes a
number of basic procedures.” It also specified various omissions noted in the investigation
of the facts, namely that: 1) no photographic identification was carried out of the person
allegedly involved in the attack against Joe Castillo and his family (supra para. 78); 2) no
photographs taken while alive were obtained of the individuals killed on November 20,
2003, who, according to some reports, were allegedly linked to the attack against Mr.
Castillo, his wife and their son (supra para. 72), and 3) no ballistic comparison tests were
carried out on the weapons captured from the individual linked to the attack against Joe
Castillo and his family and those seized from those killed in the confrontation on November
20, 2003, and the bullet shells from the weapon that struck Joe Castillo.
134. It added that in its investigation the State should have considered Joe Luis Castillo’s
work as a human rights defender, and circumstances such as the murder of three
beneficiaries of precautionary measures ordered by the Commission, whom Joe Luis Castillo
represented, as well as the fact that he had been defending cases related to disputes over
land ownership and that some of his clients were selectively killed. The Commission
emphasized that the State should have taken into account the importance, in the context of
the facts, that “with regard to violations of the rights [of human rights] defenders, an
analysis be carried out of the possible participation of masterminds,” because “several of
the attacks [...] against them were executed using hired gunmen.” It further indicated that
the CICPC “did not investigate to a sufficient extent the allegations received […] on
September 10, 2003”, concerning the involvement of paramilitaries from Cúcuta in the
attack against the alleged victims. In this regard, the Commission noted that, despite
having identified the car used by “the alleged perpetrators” and having monitored three
individuals, they were not “identified” and although “it was found that the security and
chassis serial numbers of the [vehicle] were false,” the record shows that no “additional
procedures were carried out” to investigate the report. It further stated that the Office of
the Attorney General was informed by witnesses, including “the alleged paramilitary group
member Emer Terán and the national guardsman Edgar Alfonso González,” that Joe Luis
Castillo was on a “list of targets to be eliminated by the paramilitaries […] hired by several
cattle ranchers in the area and that the Mayor of Machiques had knowledge of this,” and yet
did not make sufficient inquiries based on this information.
135. It also argued that “the authorities [...] should have made every effort to clarify” the
evidence regarding any possible State responsibility “by acquiescence, collaboration or
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