Inter-american court of human rights


The death of Marino López



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The death of Marino López


  1. On February 26, 1997, approximately 60 paramilitaries from the ACCU “Chocó” Bloc entered the settlement of Bijao,191 located in basin of the Cacarica River, Chocó department, Colombia. According to the evidence, they fired their rifles and launched grenades at the roofs of the houses, and sacked the homes, including that of Marino López. Following these acts, the paramilitaries assembled the inhabitants and ordered them to abandon the settlement.192

  2. Similarly, it is an undisputed fact that Marino López was executed on February 27, 1997, in the settlement of Bijao193 by members of the Chocó Bloc paramilitary group, who accused him of being a member of the guerrilla.194 Specifically, the evidence reveals that aliases “Manito” and “Diablito” obliged him to get some coconuts down from a palm tree in order to drink the coconut water, and then kicked him. After pushing him to the bank of the river, one of the paramilitaries swung his machete at Marino López’s neck, but hit his shoulder. Injured, Marino López threw himself into the river to escape, but the men told him that “it would be worse for him if he went,” and he therefore tried to return. However, while he was on the river’s edge, “Manito” decapitated him with his machete.195 The State indicated that it did not seek to question this fact, because “there was no doubt that Marino López had been murdered by paramilitaries.”196

  3. Some of the testimonies indicate, and the State has not contested this, that after killing him, the authors proceeded to dismember his body. They also indicated that the paramilitaries played with his head as if it had been a football,197 although the domestic courts have not given this total credence,198 and several paramilitaries deny this last act.199

  4. Furthermore, the evidence reveals that these acts took place in the presence of members of the community.200 The remains of Marino López were found in the Cacarica River days later, but were only identified in February 2007, when it was possible to register his death officially.201 Lastly, the probative elements, as well as the findings of the Eighth Criminal Court of the Bogota Special Circuit, show that military personnel were not involved in the events that occurred in Bijao and that resulted in the death of Marino López.202
    1. The facts relating to the alleged forced displacement

E.1. The alleged forced displacement


Undisputed facts

  1. It is an undisputed fact that, at the time of the events, various inhabitants of the Cacarica river valley, and of the Bajo Atrato in general,203 had to displace. As alleged by the Commission, and confirmed by the State, around 3,500 people were displaced and, of these, approximately 2,300 settled provisionally in the municipality of Turbo and in Bocas del Atrato, both in the department of Antioquia, Colombia, around 200 crossed the border into Panama, and the others went to other parts of Colombia.204

Disputed facts

  1. Regarding the causes of the forced displacement, the Court notes that there are numerous versions of what happened. On the one hand, some probative elements indicate that the acts of violence that occurred in the context of Operation Genesis and the so-called Operation Cacarica, both the bombing205 and the death of Marino López,206 were what produced the forced displacement of the inhabitants of the Cacarica river basin.207

  2. According to this same version, other probative elements indicate that the displacement was premeditated and, in particular, that the members of the Army and the paramilitary groups perpetrated different acts of violence against the population,208 ordering the communities to leave their territory.209 Documents provided by the Ombudsman’s Office record that the Riosucio spokesperson informed the Apartadó Sectional Office that “since […] February 24, the inhabitants of these communities have been wandering around the hills seeking a way out to a safe place and that he had asked the Armed Forces to provide them with protection, and the Commander of the Operation had advised him […] that he would organize a support group, and that the situation of the peasants would be transitory, because shortly, in around five days, they would recover the areas and the peasants could return safely.”210

  3. Based on this first hypothesis, and as the Eighth Criminal Court of the Bogota Special Circuit indicated, the forced displacement of the inhabitants of Bijao, and the murder of Marino López, were not isolated acts, but formed part of a strategy to consolidate the paramilitary groups, to occupy territories, and to conquer a common enemy, owing to the way in which Marino López was “used” as a means or instrument to achieve a goal; and how it was executed in a predetermined context and with a specific objective: to cause terror in order to forcibly evict the non-combatant civilian population.211

  4. However, a second version of what happened, supported by other documents and testimony, indicates that, contrary to what was indicated by the Commission and the representatives, the displacement of the inhabitants of the Cacarica river valley had been taking place since 1996 and continued during 1997 as a result of the action of the FARC.212 Regarding the guerrilla presence in the region, there is evidence that, after the FARC had taken Riosucio (supra para. 97), “launches and pangas that were travelling from Turbo to Riosucio were intercepted, and fuel, foodstuffs, and even drugs were stolen during several months […] by the FARC 57th Front.”213

  5. Also, as indicated by the State and by some of the probative documents, during the days in which Operation Genesis was conducted, there had been fighting involving the FARC guerrilla beside the Cacarica River on the western bank of the Atrato River.214 The representatives and the Commission did not contest this information.

E.2. The displacement sites and conditions

E.2.1. Municipality of Turbo


  1. The persons displaced to Turbo were initially located in the town’s sports arena215 and, subsequently, in two shelters built with assistance from international agencies.216 Those displaced from the Cacarica River basin were placed in Shelter No. 1, located in the Turbo sports arena.217

  2. There is evidence indicating that some persons, ranging from 150218 to 320 families, were accommodated in the Turbo sports arena as of the end of February 1997 and that, at the end of March 1997, there were 291 families (1,090 persons of whom 549 were children).219 In Turbo the living conditions of those displaced were characterized by: (a) the absence of Government attention;220 (b) overcrowding;221 (c) poor sleeping conditions;222 (d) lack of privacy (those displaced did not have privacy in the circumstances that required this; for example, “to attend to their physiological needs,” to have intimate relations,223 and “the women gave birth in front of everyone”224); (e) food was inexistent, insufficient and/or unbalanced,225 and (f) water was insufficient and of poor quality.226 In this regard, it was indicated that those displaced were provided with minimum amounts of water, which had an impact on hygiene and on digestive functions.227 The foregoing, added to the experiencies resulting from displacement, led first to illnesses that directly affected the physical228 and mental health229 of these people, a situation for which the State failed to provide any230 or insufficient attention;231 second, to adverse effects on the family structures232 and, third, to problems for the children’s schooling.233

E.2.2. Bocas del Atrato


  1. Another group from Cacarica was displaced on February 24, 1997,234 to Bocas del Atrato, 15 kilometer from Turbo, crossing the Gulf of Urabá. According to information provided by the Commission and the representatives, it was composed of 70 individuals, who were accommodated in a school classroom and with local families.235 Furthermore, according to the Ombudsman’s Office, “the Cacarica confrontations ousted approximately 250 persons from their homes to the village of Bocas de Atrato”236.

E.2.3. Panama


  1. In addition, around 200 people went on foot to Panama.237 This group established impromptu camps in the Darien region.238 However, shortly after arriving in Panama, the displaced were informed that they could not remain in that country.239 The Colombian State compulsorily transferred a large group to Bahía Cupica in Chocó department and placed them in the “El Cacique” hacienda.240


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