Washington College of Law
Center For Human Rights and Humanitarian Law

Communication 1787 (Colombia)

1787, presented through a communication dated October 22, 1973, includes, in summary, the following allegations:
  1. The following farmers were murdered in the Department of E1 Valle : at the end of 1972, Jorgilio Guevara; on September 11, 1972, Rafael Osorio Rondón; on June 3, 1973, José de Jesús Giraldo; on July 2, 1972, Emilio Hernández; on August 5, 1972, Fidel Rivera de la Cruz, and on August 21, 1972, Aldemar and José Ramiro Gonzá1ez.
  2. Between August 1972 and July 1973, the following peasant leaders in the Department of E1 Valle have been murdered: Rodolfo Antonio Henao Bueno, Laura Rosa Escobar, Héctor Favio Arenas, Henry Arenas, Uriel Ceballos, Joaquín Antonio Araque Serna, Rubén Darío Graja1os, Bertuldo Patiño and Agustín Camayo.
  3. During that same period of time the following events took place among others: arbitrary arrest of farmers, dispossession of cultivated land, destruction of property,. mistreatment of farmers, illegal dismissal of workers or refusal to allow formation of rural farmers' associations.
In a note of January 9, 1974, the Commission requested the Government of Colombia to provide the appropriate information in accordance with Articles 42 and 44 of the Regulations.Correspondingly, in a letter dated January 11, 1974, the Commission informed the claimant of the steps taken with regard to the case
At its thirty-second session, Apri1 1974, the CIDH, noting that the Government of Colombia had not provided the information requested, agreed to repeat its request for information. That decision was carried out on June 3, 1974.
On June 18, 1974, the Colombian Government requested that it be granted an extension on the period of time provided for under, Article 51 of the Regulations for transmittal of the appropriate information, which was granted by the CIDH for an additional 120 days. However, at the thirty-fourth session (October 1974); in response to a request from the Colombian Government, the Commission agreed to an another 60-day extension for presentation of corresponding reports, thereby postponing examination of the case. As with communications 1777, 1780 and 1781, this decision was brought to the attention of the Government of Colombia and the claimants through notes dated November 13, 1974.
The Government of Colombia, in a note of January 7, 1975, transmitted through the Colombian Mission to the OAS (No.10) provided information in the form of a report on the activities conducted by the Government of Colombia in terms of progress achieved in the field of education between 1965 and 1974.
The Commission examined case 1787 along with the information provided by the Government of Colombia during its thirty-fifth session (May 1975), appointing Dr. Genaro R. Carrió as a rapporteur for the case.
The rapporteur presented a draft note to the Colombian Government at that same session, a note requesting the appropriate information on the matters denounced, assuming that, as in case 1777, there had been involuntary error made by the Government of Colombia as regards the information it had provided on these cases in connection with the subject matter of each one of the denunciations. The Commission approved the text of the note proposed by the rapporteur, making note of the fact that if possible, the CIDH hopes to have the requested data no later than September 30, 1975, in order to enable it to consider the merit of this case at its thirty-sixth session having available all the information necessary to adopt a well-founded decision.
Pursuant to this decision, a note was sent to the Colombian Government on August 12, 1975.
The claimants were informed of this decision through a note of that same date.
The Commission continued its examination of case 1787 at its thirty-sixth session and, noting that the Government of Colombia had not yet replied to its note of August 12, it decided, in keeping with the recommendation made by the rapporteur of the case (Dr. Genaro R. Carrió) to repeat its request to the Colombian Government for transmittal of the appropriate information, establishing February 12, 1976, as the deadline for receipt thereof.
On October 24, 1975, a note was sent to the Colombian Government to that effect. A copy of that note was sent to the Colombian Mission to the OAS on October 28, 1975.

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