REPORT No. 20/12
PETITION 1119-02
ADMISSIBILITY
AURA DE LAS MERCEDES PACHECO BRICEÑO
AND BALBINA FRANCISCA RODRÍGUEZ PACHECO
VENEZUELA
March 20, 2012
I.
SUMMARY
1.
On May 6, 2002, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the
Commission” or “the IACHR”) received a petition that Mrs. Aura de las Mercedes Pacheco Briceño
(hereinafter “the petitioner”) lodged against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (hereinafter “the
State”) in which she alleged having been denied justice to redress the medical malpractice
committed at the private clinic called La Concepción Maternal-Infant Polyclinic C.A. (hereinafter “the
Clinic”) in the city of Barquisimeto in the state of Lara, to the detriment of her daughter, Mrs. Balbina
Francisca Rodríguez (hereinafter “the alleged victim” or “Mrs. Balbina Rodríguez”).
2.
The petitioner contends that the State is responsible for violation of the rights to life,
personal integrity, a fair trial, equal protection of the law and judicial protection, recognized in
Articles 4, 5, 8, 24 and 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter “the
Convention” or “the American Convention”), read in conjunction with the duties to ensure the
exercise of the Convention-protected rights and to adopt domestic legislative measures, set forth in
Articles 1(1) and 2 thereof. The State, for its part, requested that the Commission declare the petition
inadmissible, and indicated that the Public Prosecutor’s Office was still within the legal time frame
for delivering the closing statement, at which point the preliminary phase of the proceedings would
come to a conclusion.
3.
Without prejudging the merits of the petition and after examining the parties’
positions and verifying compliance with the requirements stipulated in Articles 46 and 47 of the
American Convention, the Commission decided to declare the petition admissible for purposes of
an examination of the claim alleging violation of Articles 5, 8 and 25 of the American Convention,
read in conjunction with Articles 1(1) and 2 thereof. It also decided to declare the petition
inadmissible with respect to the alleged violation of Articles 4 and 24 of the Convention, to notify
the parties and to order publication of the report.
I.
PROCEEDING BEFORE THE COMMISSION
4.
The IACHR registered the petition as number 1119-02 and, after a preliminary
analysis, forwarded the pertinent parts to the State on April 14, 2005, for its observations. 1 On
August 17, 2005, the State presented its reply, which was forwarded to the petitioner for her
observations. On September 28, 2005, the petitioner submitted her response, which was forwarded
to the State for comment.
5.
By a communication dated August 8, 2006, the IACHR asked the parties to submit
updated information on the matter in question. On October 12 and December 14, 2006, the petitioner
supplied updated information, which was in turn forwarded to the State for its observations. On
1
On November 14, 2002, the IACHR received a petition that the petitioner lodged concerning the very same events
described in the present petition. It was registered as 4496-02. On April 14, 2005, the Commission informed the petitioner
that petition 4496-02 had been joined with the petition classified as number 1119-02, which concerns the matter at issue here.