REPORT No. 73/17 CASE 12.984 MERITS RAÚL ROLANDO ROMERO FERIS ARGENTINA JULY 5, 2017 I. SUMMARY 1. On 24 August 2001, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter "the Commission", "the Inter-American Commission" or "the IACHR") received a petition lodged by Mariano Cuneo Libarona, Cristian Cuneo Libarona, José María Arrieta and Jorge Eduardo Alcántara1 (hereinafter "the petitioner"). The petition alleged the international responsibility of the Republic of Argentina (hereinafter "the State", "the Argentine State" or "Argentina") for violations of personal liberty and due process in the context of criminal proceedings which began in 1999 against Raúl Rolando Romero Feris, (hereinafter the "alleged victim"), in the Province of Corrientes. 2. The State indicated that it bares no international responsibility in the present case, because the violations alleged by the petitioner were duly analyzed by the domestic judicial authorities. The State added that the criminal process against Mr. Romero was conducted in accordance with due process and disagreement with judicial decisions does not imply a violation of the rights alleged. 3. After analyzing the available information, the Commission concluded that the Argentine State is responsible for violating the rights to personal liberty, judicial guarantees and judicial protection established in Articles 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.5, 7.6, 8.1, 8.2 and 25.1 of the American Convention, in relation to the obligations established in Article 1.1 of the same instrument to the detriment of Raúl Rolando Romero Feris. II. PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION 4. The proceedings of the case during the admissibility stage are detailed in Admissibility Report No. 4/15 of January 29, 2015. 2 5. On February 4, 2015, the Commission notified the parties of the Admissibility Report. The IACHR also made itself available to the parties for a possible friendly settlement. On July 15, 2015, the petitioner expressed no interest in initiating a friendly settlement and requested that the substantive report be issued. The petitioner also reiterated the substantive allegations presented at the admissibility stage. On November 3, 2015, the IACHR sent the petitioner's communication to the State and granted the time limit established in the rules for submitting its observations on the merits. At the time of adoption of this report, the State has not submitted its observations on the merits. III. POSITION OF THE PARTIES A. Position of the petitioner 6. The petitioner alleged that the State is internationally responsible for prolonged preventive detention, lack of independence and impartiality and a lack of access to justice in the criminal proceedings begun in 1999 against Raúl Rolando Romero Feris, in the Province of Corrientes, for the offenses of fraudulent administration, unlawful enrichment, embezzlement, abuse of authority, fraud, and the embezzlement of public funds. The petitioner alleged that the charges were politically motived in the context of the so-called "federal intervention" during 1999 when a party in opposition to his own was elected in 1 Subsequently Luis Alberto Feris became the sole petitioner. 2 IACHR, Report No. 4/15, Petition 582-01, Admissibility, Raúl Rolando Romero Feris, Argentina, January 29, 2015. 1