VII-3 RIGHT TO PERSONAL INTEGRITY, IN RELATION TO THE OBLIGATION TO RESPECT AND ENSURE THE RIGHTS, TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE MEMBERS OF JEREMÍAS OSORIO RIVERA'S FAMILY 222. In this chapter the Court will set out the arguments of the parties and of the Inter-American Commission, and will then rule on the merits of the matter in relation to the alleged violations of Article 5 of the American Convention, to the detriment of the family members. A. Arguments of the parties and of the Commission 223. The Commission affirmed that it can be presumed that the personal integrity of the next of kin of a victim of enforced disappearance has been violated. It also argued that the absence of effective remedies had constituted a source of additional suffering and anguish for the members of Jeremías Osorio Rivera’s family. Furthermore, it indicated that the members of Jeremías Osorio Rivera’s family had taken innumerable steps to obtain his release or information on his situation. Similarly, his siblings, mother and permanent companion had filed complaints before the judicial authorities and had testified before the respective criminal proceedings. It also noted that, when Jeremías Osorio Rivera was forcibly disappeared by members of the Peruvian Army at the beginning of 1991, his earnings represented the main source of income of his permanent companion, mother and underage children. In this regard, it indicated that, according to the conclusions reached by the CVR, the scourge of political violence unleashed by the insurgent groups and extended by the security forces involved individuals who, as Jeremías Osorio Rivera and his family, lived in rural areas far from the center of political and economic power and who, historically, had suffered from the highest poverty levels in the country. Thus, the alleged suffering undergone by the presumed victims was representative of the perverse relationship that existed between social exclusion, discrimination of the marginalized segments of the Peruvian population, and the increased probability that they would be beset by the excesses committed by the illegal armed groups and the abuses of the forces of law and order. Consequently, the Commission stated that, in this case, the right to personal integrity of the following members of Jeremías Osorio Rivera’s family had been violated: Juana Rivera Lozano (mother), Epifanía Alejandrina, Elena Máxima, Porfirio, Adelaida, Silvia, Mario and Efraín Osorio Rivera (siblings), Santa Fe Gaitán Calderón (permanent companion), Edith Laritza Osorio Gaytán, Neida Rocío, Vannesa Judith and Jersy Jeremías, all with the surnames Osorio Gaitán (children). 224. The representatives asserted that, as indicated during the investigation conducted at the domestic level, Juana Rivera Lozano, Santa Fe Gaitán Calderón and Porfirio Osorio Rivera had taken the required steps when confronted by the detention of Jeremías Osorio Rivera before the State agents responsible for the alleged facts. They had also filed the corresponding legal actions against those State agents, but still do not know the whereabouts of the presumed victim. In addition, Juana Rivera Lozano and Porfirio Osorio Rivera had informed the CVR of the aftereffects of the detention and subsequent disappearance of Jeremías Osorio Rivera. For her part, Santa Fe Gaitán Calderón had to raise the four children she had with the presumed victim alone. The representatives indicated that Juana Rivera Lozano had died of a painful illness, knowing that the alleged disappearance of her son was still unpunished. Similarly, other siblings of Jeremías Osorio Rivera, such as Silvia Osorio Rivera, had accompanied his brother, Porfirio, following the presumed victim’s detention. The said family members, together with other siblings of Jeremías Osorio, have been taking part in and attending the public hearings of the criminal proceeding, as witnesses or as part of the public, which resulted in the acquittal of one of those presumably responsible. The representatives also asserted that the alleged violation of the right to mental and moral integrity of the next of kin of Jeremías Osorio Rivera had been the direct result of his alleged enforced disappearance, of the uncertainty that they had experienced and would experience with regard to 80

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