138. Consequently, of itself, the document does not provide sufficient evidence that Jeremías
Osorio Rivera was released, because, as noted, the elaboration of documents that seek to certify a
release is common in different countries and, specifically, in Peru. Thus, the Court will now rule on
the other probative elements related to the supposed release in order to establish the truth or the
falsity of what was stated in the said document, called a “record of release.”
139. Regarding the testimony of the persons who allegedly witnessed the departure of an
individual from the Cajatambo Counter-subversive Base on May 1, 1991, this Court considers that
evidence exists that raises doubts about the credibility of the accounts. Indeed, the statements
were given 17 years after the events, during the proceeding opened in 2004, and at the request of
the Lieutenant who was accused, and who had found the witnesses when he returned to
Cajatambo; thus this is evidence that was not available during the previous proceedings. In
addition, there are evident contradictions in the statements given by Simeón Retuerto Roque as
regards the identification of the person who he saw leaving the Cajatambo Counter-subversive
Base, because, in his first statement, he denies knowing anything about Jeremías Osorio Rivera
and does not recall how he was dressed when he left the said Base, and then, in his second
statement, he maintains that Jeremías Osorio Rivera was just an acquaintance, but describes his
clothes and provides other information that he had not mentioned previously. Although the
contradictions are not serious, they raise doubts about the truth of whether it really was Jeremías
Osorio Rivera who walked out of the Cajatambo Counter-subversive Base. Meanwhile, Mr. Martínez
García stated that he did not know Jeremías Osorio Rivera and nor did he identify the person who
he saw leaving the Base on the date indicated. Consequently, although it is possible that a man of
around 30 years of age left by the door of the Cajatambo Counter-subversive Base at
approximately 7 a.m. on May 1, 1991, since two testimonies affirm this, the evidence is not
conclusive to assert that it was, in fact, Jeremías Osorio Rivera.
140. In addition, this Court shares the opinion that it would be improbable that Jeremías Osorio
Rivera disappeared voluntarily once he had recovered his freedom or that he would not have
returned home or gone to the home of his sister Silvia who lived near the Counter-subversive Base
(supra para. 133). This conclusion is supported by the fact that the Ombudsman’s Office, during
the verifications made in 2006 to grant the certification of absence due to enforced disappearance,
requested information from the National Identification and Civil Status Registry Office (RENIEC),
the National Electoral Processes Office (ONPE), the National Penitentiary Institute (INPE), and the
General Directorate of Immigration and Naturalization (DIGEMIN), and also sent official requests to
the National Police, “without obtaining any evidence of the reappearance of Jeremías Osorio
Rivera.” 251
141. Based on the above, this Court concludes that there is insufficient evidence of different
kinds to support the State’s version that Jeremías Osorio Rivera was released from the Cajatambo
Counter-subversive Base on May 1, 1991, and the last information on him is that he was in the
State’s custody. Thus, the evidence cited is insufficient to substantiate the explanation provided by
the State, and is therefore inadequate to disprove the State’s participation in the facts that are the
grounds for this case.
ii.2)
The acquittals delivered in the criminal proceedings
Cf. Reports of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, A/HRC/16/48, 26 January 2011, para. 468;
A/HRC/13/31, 21 December 2009, para. 268; E/CN.4/2001/68, 18 December 2000, para. 62.
251
Ombudsman’s Office, Verification report No. 5442-2006-OD/LIMA of September 13, 2006 (evidence file, volume IV,
annex 19 to the submission of the case, folio 1667).
52
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