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them. In the light of these facts and the fear of being persecuted by the authorities, the
authors decided not to return to Colombia and took up residence in Mexico.
2.6
Criminal Court No. 75 opened a preliminary inquiry. The authors argue that the
investigations carried out by Criminal Court No. 75, including the testimony that was
gathered, the inspection of the crime scene, the at-the-scene examinations of the corpses
and the forensic evidence, indicate that A.F.D. and the wife of R.R.P. were extrajudicially
executed by the members of the Special Operations Group; that the objective of the
operation had never been to arrest A.F.D., but instead to kill him; and that members of the
police and the army should thus be held responsible for his death.
2.7
Meanwhile, on 15 March 1986, the Military Criminal Court (Court No. 78) opened a
preliminary inquiry into the same events.
2.8
In addition, on 22 May 1986, R.R.P. lodged a complaint with the President of the
Republic concerning the death of his wife. On 8 July 1986, the Office of the Specialized
Counsel for the National Police within the Office of the Counsel General of the Nation
opened a preliminary investigation, which was followed by a disciplinary inquiry into
alleged wrongdoing involving the use of violence resulting in the loss of the life of the wife
of R.R.P. as a result of actions which also led to the death of the authors’ family member.
The Directorate General of the National Police, for its part, initiated a procedure known as
an “internal disciplinary investigation” into the same events. On 21 July 1986, however, the
case was closed, as it had been determined that the operation had been carried out in
accordance with the laws and regulations governing the police. On 29 December 1986, the
Office of the Specialized Counsel for the National Police decided to close the disciplinary
inquiry pursuant to the decision to close the internal disciplinary proceedings conducted by
the national police, invoking the non bis in idem principle.
2.9
On 4 March 1987, the Military Court closed its investigation. On 24 March 1987,
the Brigadier General, commander of the Bogotá Metropolitan Police Department, acting as
a judge of first instance, rendered a judgment in which he stated that there was insufficient
cause for court-martialling a first lieutenant, two non-commissioned officers and two police
officers in connection with the killings. He therefore issued an order to suspend the
proceedings against these persons. On 8 June 1987, the Higher Military Tribunal upheld the
ruling issued in first instance.
2.10 Between 1988 and 1989, the Government of the State party entered into negotiations
with M-19 and the People’s Liberation Army. The authors claim that the military forces
opposed the negotiation process and that several members of M-19 and the People’s
Liberation Army were tortured, disappeared or killed in military and police operations.
Other members of these organizations managed to leave the country and seek refuge abroad.
In August 1989, a former police officer made claims before the Counsel General alleging
that members of the national police had committed several crimes, including the murder of
A.F.D., and that an intelligence and counter-intelligence army battalion was investigating
and following several people, including the lawyer J.E.U.M., who was his legal
representative and had defended A.F.D. and other members of M-19 at the court martial.
The Office of the Counsel General, however, did not take any action of its own motion to
reopen the case of A.F.D.
2.11 In November 1989, C.L.C.D. travelled to Colombia to attend her father’s funeral. In
December of that year, V.F.C. and A.F.C. also returned to the State party to reunite with
their mother and live with her in Bogotá, where they completed their high school and
university studies. C.L.C.D. encountered great difficulty in finding employment owing to
the fact that she was the widow of a former M-19 general commander and that persons who
had been active in or associated with that organization were being persecuted.
GE.16-11906
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