situation, the Office of the National Delegate for Human Rights sent the notification by registered mail, requesting the Ministry of Defence to comply with the law and respect the terms of Resolution No. 13. Mr. Velandia Hurtado, in turn, filed a request for protection of his constitutional rights (acción de tutela) with the Tribunal Superior of Cundinamarca, on the ground that due process guarantees had not been respected in his case. Counsel adds that the family of Nydia Bautista and in particular her sister continue to be subjected to acts of intimidation and harassment. In this context, he notes that the family's first lawyer, Dr. A. de Jesus Pedraza Becerra, disappeared in Bogota on 4 July 1990, a disappearance which was condemned by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights seized of the case. – The Tribunal considers it established that Nydia Bautista was abducted on 30 August 1987, and that she was tortured and assassinated thereafter. It concludes that the evidence before it firmly establishes the responsibility of the armed forces in the events leading to the victim's death. Reference is made in this context to the procedure pending before the National Delegate for Human Rights. – Like the National Human Rights Delegate, the Tribunal attaches full credibility to the deposition made by Mr. Garzón Garzón on 22 February 1991, which corroborates, in all essential points, the claims made by Nydia Bautista's family since August 1987 (pages 9 to 12 of the judgment); this relates, for example, to the make and the license plate of the jeep in which Nydia Bautista was abducted. The Tribunal notes that Mr. Garzón Garzón requested police protection for himself and his family after his deposition. 7.3 Counsel acknowledges receipt of the judgment of the Administrative Tribunal of Cundinamarca of 22 June 1995 and notes that this judgment, together with Resolution No. 13 handed down by the National Human Rights Delegate, constitute irrefutable proof of the responsibility of State agents in the disappearance and subsequent death of Nydia Bautista. – The Tribunal concludes that the State party's authorities involved in the victim's illegal disappearance and death are fully responsible. As a result, it awards the equivalent of 1000 grams in gold to both parents, the husband and the son of Nydia Bautista, and the equivalent of 500 grams in gold to her sister. The Ministry of Defence is further directed to pay a total of 1,575,888.20 pesos plus interest and inflation-adjustment to Nydia Bautista's son for the moral prejudice suffered. 7.4 As to the state of criminal investigations, counsel notes that the case still remains with the Regional Prosecutors' Directorate of Bogota (Dirección Regional de Fiscalías de Santafé de Bogota), where the case has been assigned to one of the - recently created -human rights units of the Chief Prosecutor's office. According to counsel, these human rights units are still inoperative - thus, when Nydia Bautista's family sought to obtain information about the state of criminal proceedings, it learned that the building supposed to house the human rights units was still unoccupied. Counsel further observes that in accordance with article 324 of the Colombian Code of Criminal Procedure, preliminary investigations must be initiated once the identity of those presumed to be responsible of a criminal offence is known, and formal investigations following an indictment must start within two months. In the instant case, since the identity of those responsible for Nydia Bautista's disappearance and death were known at the very latest after the deposition of Mr. Garzón Garzón on 22 February 1991, counsel concludes that the terms of article 324 have been disregarded. 6.9 Under cover of a Note dated 2 October 1995, the State party forwards a copy of Presidential Decree No. 1504 dated 11 September 1995, which stipulates that Mr. Velandia Hurtado is dismissed from the armed forces with immediate effect. In an explanatory press communiqué, it is noted that it remains open to Mr. Velandia Hurtado to challenge the decree or to take such other action as he considers appropriate before the competent administrative tribunal. 7.1 In his initial comments, counsel notes that Mr. Velandia Hurtado sought to challenge the competence of the National Delegate for Human Rights handling the case, Dr. Valencia Villa, in March 1995, and that he sought to file criminal charges against her, presumably for defamation. On the basis of recent reports about further instances of intimidation of Nydia Bautista's sister by agents of the military's intelligence service, counsel expresses concern about the physical integrity of the National Delegate for Human Rights. 7.5 In the latter context, counsel once again points to what he perceives as unacceptable negligence and delays in the criminal investigations. At least once, on 30 June 1992, the office of Examining Magistrate 94 (Juzgado 94 de Instrucción Criminal) ordered the closure of the investigation, in spite of the deposition of Mr. Garzón Garzón. The magistrate justified his decision under the terms of Law 23 of 1991 ("Ley de Decongestión de Despachos Judiciales"), whose 7.2 In further comments dated 27 July 1995, counsel notes that efforts to notify Resolution No. 13 of 5 July 1995 personally to Mr. Velandia Hurtado or Mr. Ortega Araque have so far failed, as neither they nor their lawyers replied to the convocation issued by the Ministry of Defence. Faced with this 107