La caducidad en las pretensiones de reparación directa frente a los delitos de lesa humanidad, genocidio y crímenes de guerra en Colombia

Abstract

The Unification Sentence of January 29th, 2020, delivered by the Colombian Council of State, set a precedent on the mandatory nature of the common expiration term of two years, counted from the knowledge of the unlawful damage, to claim against the State for direct reparation derived from human rights violations, such as crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes. However, the case law of Inter-American Court of Human Rights, indicated that, although imprescriptibility clearly operates in criminal actions, it is also possible that this guarantee of imprescriptibility applies to other actions such as those aimed at suing the State. The most important is to safeguard the integral reparation right, regardless of the action that is initiated, when we are faced with human rights violations. Thus, taking into account the internal regulations, the pronouncements of the High Courts and the Colombian historical context, this work aims to determine, whether or not it operates in Colombia, the forfeiture of the petition for direct reparation for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.