In each particular case, taking into account the specific arguments concerning the evidence,
the non-applicability of the statute of limitations at a certain moment may have the purpose
of preventing the State from evading accountability for the arbitrary acts committed by its
own officials in such contexts 258 and thus avoiding their repetition. 259
263. The Court has affirmed, consistently and repeatedly, that application of the statute of
limitations is inadmissible in cases of torture, murders committed in a context of massive and
systematic violations of human rights, and forced disappearances, 260 because such conducts
contravene non-derogable rights and obligations recognized by international human rights
law.
264. Specifically, with regard to crimes against humanity, “no rule on statute of limitations
with respect to international crimes, including crimes against humanity, was established in the
Nürnberg or the Tokyo Charters, or in the constituent instruments of the International Criminal
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda or the
Special Court for Sierra Leon. In contrast, Control Council Law No. 10, adopted in December
1945 by the Allied Control Council for Germany to ensure the continued prosecution of alleged
offenders, provided that in any trial or prosecution for crimes against humanity (as well as
war crimes and crimes against the peace) ‘the accused shall not be entitled to the benefits of
any statute of limitation in respect to the period from 30 January 1933 to 1 July 1945.’” 261 In
addition, in 1967, the United Nations General Assembly noted that “the application to war
crimes and crimes against humanity of the rule of municipal law relating to the period of
limitation for ordinary crimes is a serious concern to world public opinion, since it prevents the
prosecution and punishment of persons responsible for those crimes.” 262 The following year,
the States adopted the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War
Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, which recognized the evolution of international law on
this matter and determined that “statutory or other limitations shall not apply to the
prosecution and punishment of” crimes against humanity. 263 In addition, the Rome Statute
applied on certain conditions and longer terms intended to give extended life to the State’s right to prosecute.”
Separate opinion of Judge Sergio García Ramírez with regard to the judgment of the Inter-American Court of Human
Rights in the Case of Albán Cornejo et al. v. Ecuador. Merits, para. 29.
258
Cf. Case of Bueno Alves v. Argentina. Monitoring compliance with judgment. Resolution of the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights of July 5, 2011, considerandum 40.
259
Cf. Case of Albán Cornejo v. Ecuador. Merits, para. 111; Case of Vera and otra v. Ecuador, para. 117.
See, inter alia, Case of Barrios Altos v. Peru. Merits, para. 41; Case of the Gómez Paquiyauri Brothers v. Peru.
Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of July 8, 2004. Series C No. 110, para. 150, 151 and 152; Case of the
Moiwana Community v. Suriname. Preliminary objections, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of June 15, 2005.
Series C No. 124, para. 167; Case of Ibsen Cárdenas and Ibsen Peña v. Bolivia. Merits, reparations and costs.
Judgment of September 1, 2010. Series C No. 217, para. 207; Case of Gomes Lund et al. ("Guerrilha do Araguaia")
v. Brazil, para. 171; Case of Vera Vera et al. v. Ecuador, para. 117, and Case of the Hacienda Brasil Verde Workers
v. Brazil, para. 454.
260
261
UN. Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its sixty-ninth session (1 May-2 June and 3 July4 August 2017). A/72/10, commentary 34 on article 6 of the Draft articles on crimes against humanity, p. 70, citing
Control Council Law No. 10 on Punishment of Persons Guilty of War Crimes, Crimes Against Peace and Against
Humanity, art. II, para. 5; UN. General Assembly. Question of the punishment of war criminals and of persons who
have committed crimes against humanity, Resolution 2338 (XXII), December 18, 1967.
262
UN. Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its sixty-ninth session (1 May-2 June and 3 July4 August 2017). A/72/10, commentary 35 on article 6 of the Draft articles on crimes against humanity, p. 70, citing
UN. General Assembly. Question of the punishment of war criminals and of persons who have committed crimes
against humanity, Resolution 2338 (XXII), December 18, 1967; see also Resolution 2712 (XXV) of December 15,
1970 (available at: https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/2712(XXV)), and Resolution 2840 (XXVI) of December 18, 1971
(available at: https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/2840(XXVI)).
263
UN. General Assembly. Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes
against Humanity, Resolutión 2391(XXIII), November 26, 1968, Article IV. Available at https://undocs.org/en/
a/res/2391(XXIII).
66