HAVING SEEN:

1.             That the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter "the Court" or "the Tribunal") held a public hearing at its seat on April 12, 1997, on the provisional measures adopted in the Giraldo Cardona Case.

2.             That at that hearing the representative of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter "the Commission") stated that the conditions of extreme gravity and urgency that had prompted the adoption of the measures in the instant Case still persisted.

3.             That the representative of the State of Colombia (hereinafter "the State") declared at that public hearing that it would not be opposed to the provisional measures being maintained for a period of six months so as to allow full compliance with the Order of the Court.

CONSIDERING:

That the statements made by the Commission and the State at the public hearing held by the Court on this matter showed that circumstances of extreme gravity and urgency still existed and call for the provisional measures adopted by this Tribunal in the Giraldo Cardona Case to be maintained.

NOW THEREFORE:

THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS,

in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Article 29 of its Rules of Procedure,

DECIDES:

To take note of the statements of the Commission and the State of Colombia on this matter and to reaffirm its order of February 5, 1997.

Done in Spanish and English, the Spanish text being authentic, at the seat of the Court in San Jose, Costa Rica, on this sixteenth day of April, 1997.