Report No. 93 (2025) IACHR. Petition No. 14.541 (Colombia)

• Court: Inter-American Comission of Human Rights
• Year: 2025
• Case Type: Friendly Settlements
• Respondent State: Colombia

REPORT No. 93/25

CASE 14.541

REPORT ON FRIENDLY SETTLEMENT

JOSE ENRIQUE CALDAS AND RELATIVES

COLOMBIA

OEA/Ser.L/V/II

Doc. 98

26 J. 2025

Original: Spanish

Approved electronically by the Commission on J. 26, 2025.

Cite as: IACHR, Report No. 93/2025. Case 14.541. Friendly Settlement. Jose Enrique Caldas and relatives. Colombia, J. 26, 2025.

www.iachr.org

REPORT No. 93/25

CASE 14.541

FRIENDLY SETTLEMENT

JOSE ENRIQUE CALDAS AND RELATIVES

COLOMBIA1
JUNE 26, 2025

1. SUMMARY AND RELEVANT PROCEEDINGS OF THE FRIENDLY SETTLEMENT PROCESS

1. On M. 10, 2010, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter "the Commission" or "IACHR") received a petition, initially presented by Mr. N. de Jesús Ríos Santamaría,2 who was replaced by L.M.B.B.,3 representing the next of kin of the alleged victim, whose representation was subsequently assumed by Mr. Juan Sebastián Ríos Barahona (hereinafter "the petitioning party", "the petitioner" or "the petitioners"), alleging the international responsibility of the Republic of Colombia (hereinafter "S." or "C. S." or "Colombia"), for the violation of the human rights contemplated in Articles 4 (life), 5 (personal integrity), and 8 (judicial guarantees) of the American Convention on Human Rights, (hereinafter "Convention" or "American Convention"), for the impunity surrounding the murder of Mr. J.E.C., (hereinafter "alleged victim") by one of the members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (hereinafter also "the FARC") and the lack of compensation for harm done to his relatives, who were threatened with death by the members of the FARC if they denounced what had happened.

2. On M. 19, 2021, the Commission issued Admissibility Report No. 64/21, in which it declared the petition admissible and declared its competence to hear the complaint lodged by the petitioning party regarding the alleged violation of the rights contained in Articles 8 (judicial guarantees) and 25 (judicial protection) of the American Convention in relation to its articles 5 (personal integrity) and 1.1. (Obligation to Respect Rights).

3. On September 22, 2022, the parties entered into a memorandum of understanding aimed at reaching a friendly settlement, together with a work schedule for the negotiations. In the following months, the parties held bilateral meetings to analyze the reparation measures to be included in the friendly settlement agreement (hereinafter “FSA” or “agreement”), which resulted in the signing of that instrument on September 21, 2023, in the city of Bogotá.

4. On July 8, 2024, the parties presented a joint report in which they disclosed the agreement reached to partially modify the content of the FSA, described progress made in its implementation, and requested the IACHR to approve it, a request that they reiterated on December 2, 2024.

5. This friendly settlement report, in accordance with Article 49 of the Convention and Article 40(5) of the Commission's Rules of Procedure, contains a summary of the facts alleged in the petition and a transcription of the friendly settlement agreement signed on September 21, 2023, by the petitioning party and representatives of the C.S.. Also, the Commission hereby approves the agreement signed by the parties and decides to publish this report in its Annual Report to the General Assembly of the Organization of American S.s.

2. THE FACTS ALLEGED

6. The petitioner claimed that Mr. J.E.C. was murdered by a member of the “FARC” in the municipality of Puerto Rico, department of M.. The petitioner argued this act of violence was left unpunished by the state authorities and that it was not possible to seek compensation for the alleged victim’s family, whom the FARC threatened to kill if they reported the crime.

6. The petitioner alleged that on December 25, 2005, Mr. José Enrique Caldas was at the diner in the district of Buena Vista, in the municipality of Puerto Rico, department of M., when a member of the FARC’s 44th Front, who was in plainclothes and inspecting the troops mobilized in that area, asked him for his (the alleged victim’s) permit to visit that place—to visit the district or the town, country people were required to get a permit from the commander of that area. The petitioner recounted that since the alleged victim did not have one such permit, the FARC guerrilla, without saying anything else, stabbed the alleged victim to death in front of the other FARC guerrillas and the people at the diner. No one asked anything and no one could approach or help the alleged victim.

6. L., Mr. E.C., the alleged victim’s brother, and some members of the Communal Action Board removed the body themselves given the absence of state authorities in that area. According to the petitioner, the alleged victim, who was threatened by the FARC like everyone else was in the town, was just visiting his surroundings; his purported mistake was not carrying an authorization from the local commander, and his death was due to the S.’s failure in its duty to protect all its inhabitants as per article 2 of Colombia’s National Constitution.

6. M., the petitioner narrated that the population of the district of Buena Vista was controlled by guerrillas of the FARC, who discretionally killed members of that community. According to the petitioner, these killings were known to the several units of the National Army in the Vargas-21^st Battalion, headquartered at the municipality of Granada, near the municipality of Puerto Rico, and the Fourth Division, headquartered at the city of Villavicencio, department of M.. The petitioner said that since these armed groups of the FARC did not allow state authorities in, the municipality of Puerto Rico was excluded from any protection from the S.. The petitioner indicated that it was the FARC that ruled all the civilian population of that municipality and even communities nearby.

6. The petitioner argued that no formal complaint was filed against any of the members of the army nor any administrative authority of the municipality of Puerto Rico, M., by the alleged victim’s family because of the prevailing law of silence and because of the fear caused by the threats from the FARC as well as the fear of reprisal from state authorities and paramilitary groups operating in the country, where the military forces were a judge and party in legal proceedings.

6. F., the petitioner claimed that the S. failed to protect not only the alleged victim but also the whole civilian population of the district of Buena Vista. In their opinion, the state’s bodies did have the adequate means to fight these armed groups of the FARC but failed to do so, even though they knew that human rights violations were being committed in that area. The petitioner also claimed that when the S. filed the criminal action ex officio, it did not conduct it effectively and eventually filed the case in the archives without punishing the persons responsible. M., the petitioner pointed the finger at the Minister of National Defense, the Commander of the Fourth Division of the Army, the Commander of the Army’s VII Brigade, and the Director of the National Police, all of whom were in office when the events took place, as the persons responsible for the violation of the alleged victim’s human rights. F., through the Ministry of the Interior and Justice, the petitioner requested copies of the proceedings and a judicial inspection into the record compiled by the Office of the P. General, Office of the Public P. of Puerto Lleras to the Judge of the Circuit of San Martín, M..

3. FRIENDLY SETTLEMENT

6. On September 21, 2023, in Bogotá, the parties signed a friendly settlement agreement, which reads as follows:

FRIENDLY SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT

PETITION 337-10 J.E.C. AND NEXT OF KIN4

On September 21, 2023 in the city of Bogotá D.C., a meeting was held between, A.M.O.P., Director of International Legal Defense of the National Agency for the Legal Defense of the S., acting on behalf of the C. S., hereinafter "the C. S.", and S.R.B., acting on behalf of the victims,...