Napoleon Torres Crespo, Angel María Torres Arroyo and Antonio Hugues Chaparro Torres, as well as the two Villafañe brothers, have been victims of violations by Colombia of articles 2, paragraph 3; 6, paragraph 1; 7; 9; 14 and 27 of the Covenant. 2.8 The examining magistrate of Court No. 65 refused and asked the Disciplinary Tribunal to rule on the matter; on 23 July 1991, the Disciplinary Tribunal decided that the competence to try Lieutenant-Colonel Duque Izquierdo and Lieutenant Fernández Ocampo was indeed with the military courts, i.e. the Second Brigade of Barranquilla. There was one dissenting vote, as one magistrate considered that the conduct of the two officers was not directly related to their military status. It is stated that military criminal proceedings against the two accused were discontinued on 30 April 1992, with respect to the allegation made by the Villafañe brothers, and on 5 May 1992 with respect to the disappearance and subsequent murders of the three indigenous leaders. These decisions were confirmed by the High Military Court (Tribunal Superior Militar) on 8 March 1993 and in July 1993. 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 illtreatment 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. 2.9 Meanwhile, the part of the criminal proceedings in which charges were brought against Eduardo Enrique Mattos and Luis Alberto Uribe had been referred to Court No. 93; on 23 October 1991, the Court acquitted both accused and ordered all criminal proceedings against them to be discontinued. Counsel then appealed to the High Court in Valledupar, which confirmed the decision of 23 October 1991; it found that the evidence against Luis Alberto Uribe was insufficient to prove any involvement in the murders, and also took into consideration the fact that Eduardo Enrique Mattos had died in the meantime. 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. 2.10 The Human Rights Division of the AttorneyGeneral's Office (Procuraduría Delegada para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos) initiated independent disciplinary proceedings in the case. In a decision dated 27 April 1992, it found LieutenantColonel Duque Izquierdo and Lieutenant Fernández Ocampo guilty of torturing José Vicente and Amado Villafañe, and of having participated in the triple murder of Luis Napoleon Torres Crespo, Angel María Torres Arroyo and Antonio Hugues Chaparro Torres. It ordered their summary dismissal from the army. The Director of the Office of Indigenous Affairs was, however, acquitted. Counsel submits that the findings of the Human Rights Division of the Attorney-General's Office have been consistently ignored by the Colombian authorities, as evidenced by Major-General Hernando Camilo Zuñiga Chaparro on 3 November 1994, in his reply to a request for information made by the Colombia section of the Andean Commission of Jurists. In this reply, he stated that the two officers had retired from the army, in December 1991 and September 1992, at their own request. 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 The complaint 3.1 It is submitted that the above situation reveals that the members of the Arhuaco community, Luis 137