179. Conforming to the constant case law, 224 the Court considers that the State must ensure
the full access and capacity to act of the victims or their relatives at all stages of the
investigation and prosecution of those responsible, in accordance with domestic law and the
rules of the American Convention. Additionally, the results of the proceedings must be publicly
disseminated so that Guatemalan society knows the facts which are the object of the present
case, as well as those responsible. 225
B.2. Determination of the whereabouts and identification and delivery of the
remains of the missing victim
180. The Commission asked the Court to order the State to conduct a full, impartial, and
effective investigation into the whereabouts of the alleged victim, and if necessary, to adopt
the necessary measures to identify and deliver the mortal remains to his relatives.
181. The representative also requested that the whereabouts of Mr. Flores Bedregal be
established in a complete, impartial, effective manner, and within a reasonable time, and if
necessary, that the necessary measures be adopted to identify and deliver his mortal remains
to his relatives and that the costs be borne by the State. They requested the participation of
the Flores Bedregal sisters and the cooperation of other States and international organizations
with experience in the search for disappeared persons.
182. The State referred to the work of the Truth Commission as an extrajudicial instance
for the location of disappeared persons. In this regard, the State also maintained that on
December 23, 2016, a Truth Commission was created by law as an extrajudicial body with
access to military and public administration archives to clarify the murders, forced
disappearances, torture, arbitrary detentions, and sexual violence, based on political and
ideological grounds, that occurred in Bolivia from November 4, 1961, to October 10, 1982.
According to the State, the Truth Commission performed its functions from August 21, 2017,
to December 20, 2019, and its final report was presented on March 3, 2020, to the
Ombudsman's Office and on March 22, 2021, to the Constitutional President of the State, it
was also referred to the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Attorney General's Office. Likewise,
the State pointed out that said report consists of eleven physical volumes and one thousand
sixty-four boxes of information, which to date are only available in the Library of the
Plurinational Legislative Assembly. 226
183. As noted above (supra para. 68) exhumations of remains were carried out in 1983 and
1992, and in all cases it was determined that they were not those of to Mr. Flores Bedregal.
Additionally, in December 2021, a complementary computer declaration and two visual
technical inspections were made in the Provincial Terminal of the City of El Alto and in the
General Cemetery of La Paz, respectively, as possible burial sites of victims of the military
dictatorship, however, they did not yield concrete information about the possible location of
the remains of Mr. Flores Bedregal.
184. This Court emphasizes that the victim disappeared 42 years ago, so it is a fair
expectation of his next of kin to have the reasonable expectation that his whereabouts would
have been identified. It is a necessary reparation measure that generates the correlative duty
224
Cf. Case of the Caracazo v. Venezuela. Reparations and Costs. Judgment of August 29, 2002. Series C No.
95, para. 118, and Case of Deras García et al. v. Honduras, supra, para. 97.
225
Cf. Case of the Caracazo v. Venezuela, supra,para. 118, and Case of Deras García et al. v. Honduras, supra,
para. 100.
Cf. Law No. 879 "Law on the Truth Commission" of December 23, 2016 (case file of evidence, p. 8648 to
8653). Also what was pointed out by the State, during the public hearing held before the Court on February 10, 2022
and the closing arguments.
226
53