requirements of Article 13 of the American Convention. As a consequence, it requested
the Court to find and declare the international responsibility of the State for the
violation of the right to freedom of thought and expression of Mr. Jorge Fontevecchia
and Mr. Héctor D’Amico, enshrined in Article 13 of the American Convention, in relation
to Article 1(1) thereof. The Commission requested that the Court order various
measures of reparation.
3.
Legal notice of the submission of the case by the Commission was provided to
the representatives on January 25, 2010. On March 28, 2010, the Centro de Estudios
Legales y Sociales [Center for Legal and Social Studies] and Eduardo Bertoni
(hereinafter “the representatives”) submitted their brief of pleadings, motions, and
evidence (hereinafter “brief of pleadings and motions”), pursuant to Articles 25 and 40
of the Rules of Procedure. The representatives coincided, in general, with the alleged
violation by the Inter-American Commission in relation to Article 13 of the American
Convention and added the alleged noncompliance with the obligation to adopt domestic
legal effects, established in Article 2 thereof, to the detriment of the alleged victims.
Lastly, they requested the Court to order the State to adopt several measures of
reparation.
4.
On June 10, 2011, the State presented a brief in response to the presentation
of the case and observations to the brief of pleadings and motions (hereinafter “answer
to the application or answer” or “answer”). Argentina mentioned several institutional
and normative changes, as well as jurisprudential adaptation “to the international
standards on freedom of expression that have modified the situation that existed at
the time of the ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation against the alleged
victims.” As a consequence, the “Argentine legal system, at the moment, is in
consonance with the American Convention and the international standards on freedom
of expression. Lastly, the State appointed as Agents Eduardo Acevedo Díaz, Juan José
Arcuri, Alberto Javier Salgado, Natalia Luterstein.
II
PROCEEDING BEFORE THE COURT
5.
After the presentation of the principal briefs (supra paras. 1 to 4), as well as the
other briefs submitted by the parties, the President ordered, by way of the Order of
July 27, 2011, the expert opinion proposed by the representatives by way of a
statement before a notary public (hereinafter also “affidavit”) where the State had the
opportunity to ask questions and make observations. Moreover, by way of an Order,
the President summoned the Inter-American Commission, the representatives, and the
States to a public hearing to receive the statements of two alleged victims proposed by
the representatives, the report of an expert summoned ex oficio, and the final oral
arguments of the representatives and the State, as well as the final oral observations
of the Commission regarding the merits, reparations, and costs. 5
6.
The public hearing was held on August 24 and 25, 2011, during the 92 Regular
Period of Sessions of the Court, in Bogota, Republic of Colombia. 6 At the hearing, the
5
Cf. Case of Fontevecchia and D’ Amico V. Argentina. Summons to the Public Hearing. Order of the
President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on July 27, 2011.
6
At this hearing appeared: a) for the Inter-American Commission: Catalina Botero, Michael Camillieri
and Karla Quintana Osuna, Advisor; b) for the representatives, Eduardo Bertoni, Maria Lourdes Bascary
Gabriela Kretzel, and, c) for the State:Gustavo Roque Stefanelli, Council of the Argentine Embassy in
Colombia, Mariano Zaragoza Ferrer, Minister of the Argentine Embassy in Colombia, and Marina Abasto,
official of the Argentine Embassy in Colombia.
4