2 1. On March 26, 2004, pursuant to the provisions of Articles 50 and 61 of the American Convention, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Commission” or “the Inter-American Commission”) filed before the Court an application against the Republic of Colombia (hereinafter “the State” or “Colombia”) originating in petition No. 12.291, received at the Secretariat of the Commission on November 5, 1997. 2. The Commission filed the application, for the Court to determine whether the State had violated the rights in Articles 5(1), 5(2) and 5(4) (Right to Humane Treatment); 7(1), 7(2), 7(3), 7(4), 7(5) and 7(6) (Right to Personal Liberty); 8(1), 8(2)(d), 8(2)(e), 8(2)(g) and 8(3) (Right to a Fair Trial); and 25 (Right to Judicial Protection) of the Convention, in relation to the obligation set forth in Article 1(1) (Obligation to Respect Rights) of said treaty, to the detriment of Wilson GutiérrezSoler. In the application, the Commission pointed out that “the [alleged] deprivation of personal liberty and inhumane treatment of Wilson Gutiérrez-Soler was perpetrated by a State agent and a private individual (a former State agent himself) who[,] with the sufferance of government officers[,] used the means available to the Public Force to arrest the [alleged] victim and to try and exact form him a confession using torture, for the alleged commission of a crime – in relation of which the domestic courts eventually found him innocent.” With respect to local action, Mr. Gutiérrez-Soler “[allegedly] exhausted all domestic legal remedies in his pursuit of justice and relief;” nevertheless, his complaints were dismissed. To this respect, the Commission stated that “[t]he [alleged] impunity of the those responsible and the lack of reparation ten years after the facts, have not only destroyed GutiérrezSoler’s life project and that of his family, but have also adversely impacted on their safety and, in some cases, forced them into exile.” 3. Furthermore, the Commission asked the Inter-American Court to order the State, under Article 63(1) of the Convention, to take the measures of reparation detailed in the application. Lastly, the Commission requested that the Order of the Court the State to pay the costs and expenses arising from the domestic legal proceedings and from the proceedings under the Inter-American System. II COMPETENCE 4. The Court has jurisdiction to hear the instant case pursuant to Article 62(3) of the Convention as Colombia has been a State Party to the American Convention since July 31, 1973 and accepted the contentious jurisdiction of the Court on June 21, 1985. III PROCEEDING BEFORE THE COMMISSION 5. On November 5, 1999, the Inter-American Commission received a petition filed by the Corporación Colectivo de Abogados “José Alvear Restrepo” (Lawyers’ Institutional Group “José Alvear Restrepo”) (hereinafter “the petitioners”), which was processed under number 12.291. 6. On November 14, 2001, during its 113th Session, the Commission adopted Admissibility Report No. 76/01, by which it concluded that it had “jurisdiction to