54. On February 20, 2019, the FAFG informed the prosecutor that it had still be unable to obtain
the genetic profiles of 14 bone samples and that it was using all its technical resources to do this,
indicating that this required a long and meticulous procedure.98
55. Currently, the case is still at the investigation stage by the Unit for Special Cases of the Internal
Armed Conflict of the Human Rights Prosecution Service.
VIII
MERITS
56. The instant case relates to the alleged violations derived from the events that occurred on April
28 and 29, 1982, regarding which, due either to their continuous nature or their autonomous nature
and that they occurred after March 9, 1987, the Court has jurisdiction ratione temporis. Taking into
account the arguments of the parties and the Commission, the Court will now examine the merits in
the following order: (i) alleged violation of the rights to recognition of juridical personality, life,
personal integrity, personal liberty, rights of the family, rights of the child and freedom of movement
and residence; (ii) alleged violation of judicial guarantees and judicial protection, and (iii) alleged
violation of personal integrity.
VIII-1
RIGHTS TO RECOGNITION OF JURIDICAL PERSONALITY, LIFE, PERSONAL INTEGRITY
AND PERSONAL LIBERTY, RIGHTS OF THE FAMILY, RIGHTS OF THE CHILD AND FREEDOM
OF MOVEMENT AND RESIDENCE99
57. In this chapter, as determined in Chapter IV of this judgment on the Court’s jurisdiction ratione
temporis, the Court will examine the alleged human rights violations that, although they began prior
to the Court’s contentious jurisdiction, are of a continuous nature, namely: (i) the alleged forced
disappearances that began at the time of the massacre and still continue, and also (ii) the alleged
violation of the right to freedom of movement and residence owing to the forced displacement to
which the victims were allegedly subjected following the massacre, and (iii) the alleged violation of
the rights of the family and the rights of the child.
a.1 The forced disappearances
58. The Commission indicated that at least three people, José Álvaro López Mejía, Fabio González
and Florenci Quej Bin, were disappeared on April 29 and 30, 1982, in Los Josefinos. According to
existing testimony, they were all last seen in the custody of State security agents and, to date, the
State has still not determined their whereabouts. Moreover, in its final written observations, the
Commission noted that the representatives had indicated that another nine people had been victims
of forced disappearance. The Commission considered that this situation reopened the discussion on
the legal classification of these facts with direct consequences on the Court’s temporal jurisdiction.
The Commission concluded that the State had violated the rights to recognition of juridical
personality, life, personal integrity and personal liberty protected by Articles 3, 4(1), 5(1), 5(2) and
7 of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) of this instrument.
59.
The representatives argued that, as a result of the massacre, at least 14 people were victims
Cf. Communication Ref. #121/19 DE-FAFG sent by the FAFG to the prosecutor of the Human Rights Section on
February 20, 2019 (evidence file, folio 13393).
98
99
Articles 3, 4, 5, 7, 17, 19 and 22 of the American Convention on Human Rights.
19