CCPR/C/60/D/612/1995
page 6
3.2
Counsel claims that the disappearance, on 28 November 1990, and
subsequent execution of the three indigenous leaders, by members of the armed
forces, constitutes a violation of article 6 of the Covenant.
3.3
Counsel claims that the abduction and subsequent murder of the three
indigenous leaders, without so much as a warrant for their arrest, is a
violation of article 9 of the Covenant.
3.4
The Villafañe brothers claim that the ill-treatment they were subjected
to at the hands of the armed forces while detained at the No. 2 Battalion “La
Popa”, which included blindfolding and dunking in a canal, etc., constitutes a
violation of article 7.
3.5
Furthermore, the interrogation of the Villafañe brothers, members of the
indigenous community, by members of the armed forces in total disregard of the
rules of due process, by denying them the assistance of a lawyer, and the
execution of the three indigenous persons in blatant violation of the
Colombian legal system, which expressly prohibits the imposition of the death
penalty, is a violation of article 14 of the Covenant.
3.6
Finally, the Villafañe brothers claim that the arbitrary detention and
torture inflicted on two members of the Arhuaco indigenous community and the
disappearance and execution of three other members of this community, two of
whom were spiritual leaders of the community, constitute a violation of the
cultural and spiritual rights of the Arhuaco community within the meaning of
article 27 of the Covenant.
The State party's information and observations
4.1
By submission of 22 March 1995, the State party submits that its
authorities have been doing, and are doing, everything possible to bring to
justice those responsible for the disappearance and murder of Luis Napoleon
Torres Crespo, Angel María Torres Arroyo and Antonio Hugues Chaparro Torres.
The State party contends that domestic remedies have not been exhausted in the
case.
4.2
The State party summarizes the state of the disciplinary proceedings in
the case as follows:
Disciplinary proceedings were first instituted by the Human Rights
Division of the Attorney-General's Office for the torture to which the
Villafañe brothers were subjected and subsequently for the abduction and
triple murder of Luis Napoleon Torres Crespo, Angel María Torres Arroyo
and Antonio Hugues Chaparro Torres. The result of this investigation
was a recommendation that the two officers should be dismissed and that
Alberto Uribe Oñate, Director of the Office of Indigenous Affairs in
Valledupar, should be acquitted. The decision was appealed, but, on
27 October 1992, the ruling of the lower court was upheld.
Criminal proceedings were initiated by Court No. 65 in Bogotá and by
Military Court No. 15; the conflict of jurisdiction was settled in
favour of the military's jurisdiction. The State party notes that a
special agent was named from the Attorney-General's Office to appear in