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PRESS RELEASE
Nº 10/05
THE
IACHR EXPRESSES SATISFACTION AT COLOMBIA’S
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expresses its satisfaction at the acknowledgment of liability by the Government of the Republic of Colombia at a public hearing held on March 10, 2005 with respect to the Wilson Gutiérrez Soler case. In the framework of the LXVI session of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Republic of Colombia acknowledged its international liability for the violation of the rights to life, humane treatment, personal liberty, a fair trial, and judicial protection enshrined in the American Convention on Human Rights, due to the illegal detention, torture and denial of due guarantees for Wilson Gutiérrez Soler and the harm done to the victim and members of his family.
The Commission wishes to underscore the good will shown by the State and realizes the importance of its statement. The Commission also appreciates the fact that the State asked the victims for forgiveness. This is an act that not only strengthens commitment shown to the inter-American system. It also paves the way for reparation and for efforts aimed at preventing these kinds of violation from occurring in future.
This favorable disposition of the Colombian State was also manifest at the working meetings held during the 122nd regular session of the IACHR, in light of the progress made toward reaching a friendly settlement in the cases of Tomas Tunarosa Cerinza and Salvador Rodríguez Macías (petition 11.022), John Wilson Rodríguez and Gabriel Adelfo Riano Prieto (petition 11.025), and the alleged violations committed against César Chaparro Nivia and Vladimir Hincapié Galeano (case11.026).
In addition, on March 8, 2005, the Republic of Colombia admitted partial liability in the case of the Mapiripán massacre. The State acknowledged its international liability for violations of the right to life, humane treatment, and personal liberty, enshrined in the American Convention, of 49 victims and members of their families in a series of grave acts of violence and destruction directed against the civilian population in the municipal zone of Mapiripán in 1997.
Washington D.C., March 14, 2005
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