the real or probable date of the victim’s death. In other words, the situation encountered in
the case of Heliodoro Portugal, that the remains had been found and identified, is not
present in this case, where the whereabouts of Mr. Gonzalez Medina have not been
discovered, and his remains have not been identified.
53.
Lastly, the Court recalls that even though it must analyze the alleged forced
disappearance with an integral perspective that covers all the facts submitted to its
consideration, 60 and determine whether they have persisted over time, 61 it can declare a
violation of the American Convention or other treaties as of the date that the defendant
State accepted its jurisdiction.
54.
Based on the foregoing, the Court rejects the first part of the preliminary objection
on lack of competence ratione temporis in relation to the fact of the alleged forced
disappearance and the alleged violations to the detriment of Mr. González Medina, so that it
is competent to rule in this regard as of March 25, 1999, the date on which the Dominican
Republic accepted its compulsory jurisdiction.
D.2) Regarding the alleged violations to the detriment of the alleged
victim’s family
Arguments of the parties and of the Inter-American Commission
55.
The Dominican Republic argued that the Court lacks competence ratione temporis to
examine the facts on which the alleged violations to the detriment of Mr. González Medina’s
family are based and that, regarding the investigations, it cannot consider facts that took
place before the date on which it accepted the Court’s jurisdiction. It indicated that the
alleged violation of Article 13 “would have been of an instantaneous nature,” and that the
“facts that allegedly prevented access to the information concerning the alleged forced
disappearance of Mr. González Medina to the detriment of his family” took place before
March 25, 1999. It addition, it asserted that “all the facts” alleged with regard to the
supposed violation of the family’s integrity took place before the acceptance of the Court’s
jurisdiction and were of an instantaneous nature. Regarding the alleged violations to the
detriment of Amaury González Ramírez, it indicated that, when the Court’s compulsory
jurisdiction was accepted, he was 20 years old.”
56.
The representatives indicated that the State’s arguments disregard the “continuing
or permanent nature of the violations alleged with regard to the victim’s family,” and that
“the preliminary objection filed by the State cannot be examined without entering into
considerations that form part of the debate on the merits of this case.” Additionally, they
indicated that, concerning the right of access to information, “the family of [Mr. González
Medina] was never provided with an official copy of the investigation conducted by the
Police Board” and that “this refusal of documents continues up until today.” They added that
the State’s obligation to replace and reconstruct the information incinerated and destroyed
by State officials “remains in effect today.” Furthermore, the representatives asserted that
60
Cf. Case of Heliodoro Portugal v. Panama, supra note 59, para. 112, and Case of Contreras et al. v. El
Salvador, supra note 51, para. 84.
61
In order to analyze the alleged act of forced disappearance, the Court will assess the evidence provided by
the parties and the Commission that has been admitted and the helpful evidence that was requested, so that the
State’s request that the evidence related to the domestic investigations, which took place before the said
acceptance of jurisdiction, is inadmissible (infra para. 78). Furthermore, to analyze the alleged violation of the
obligation to guarantee the rights protected in Articles 7, 5, 4 and 3 of the American Convention by an effective
investigation into what happened to Mr. González Medina, the Court will take into consideration the facts relating to
the investigations as of the date that the Dominican Republic accepted the Court’s jurisdiction.
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