This case is about several women and human rights activists living in Comuna 13, one of the poorest neighborhoods of Medellín, the capital of the Department of Antioquia. In 2002, Medellín was engulfed in a turf war between paramilitary groups and an existing guerilla movement involved in drug trafficking in and around Comuna 13. The State responded by deploying police and armed forces who often treated the civilian population as potential criminals instead of victims, committing murders, illegal searches of homes, arbitrary illegal detentions, and violations of privacy. The Court found violation of several articles of the American Convention, as well as of the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence Against Women (Convention of Belėm do Pará).
Case Summary: Yarce et al. v. Colombia