REPORT No. 53/13
CASE 12.777
CLAUDINA ISABEL VELASQUEZ PAIZ ET AL
MERITS
GUATEMALA
November 4, 2013
I.
SUMMARY
1.
On December 10, 2007, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter
the “Commission,” “Inter-American Commission,” or “IACHR”) received a petition lodged by the
Instituto de Estudios Comparados en Ciencias Penales [Guatemalan Institute of Comparative Studies in
Criminal Sciences] and Jorge Rolando Velásquez Durán (hereinafter “the petitioners”), on behalf of
Claudina Isabel Velásquez Paiz, Jorge Rolando Velásquez Durán, Elsa Claudina Paiz Vidal de Velásquez,
and Pablo Andrés Velásquez Paiz (hereinafter “the alleged victims”). The petition was lodged against the
State of Guatemala (hereinafter the “State,” “Guatemalan State,” or “Guatemala”), for failure to
investigate the murder of Claudina Isabel Velásquez in August 2005 in Guatemala City, allegedly
committed during a time of systematic violence against women.
2.
On October 4, 2010, the Commission adopted Report on Admissibility 110/10,1 in which
it concluded that it was competent to take up the petition and decided, based on the arguments of fact
and law given and without prejudging the merits of the matter, to declare the petition admissible with
respect to the alleged violation of the rights enshrined in Articles 4, 5, 11, and 24 of the American
Convention, taken in conjunction with to Article 1(1) of that instrument, and of Article 7 of the
Convention of Belém do Pará, in respect of Claudina Isabel Velásquez Paiz. It further decided to declare
the case admissible with regard to the alleged violation of the rights enshrined in Articles 5(1), 8(1), and
25 of the American Convention, taken in conjunction with Article 1(1) of said instrument, in respect of
Jorge Rolando Velásquez Durán, Elsa Claudina Paiz Vidal de Velásquez, and Pablo Andrés Velásquez Paiz.
3.
The petitioners held that the State of Guatemala had behaved negligently in the
investigation of the murder of Claudina Isabel Velásquez Paiz, particularly in light of the negligence and
disinterest of the authorities, which, more than seven year after the events occurred, have still not
managed to identify, prosecute and punish those responsible for the crime. They said that, as a result,
these failings in the investigation had enabled the case to remain in impunity.
4.
The State of Guatemala held that the inquiries needed to locate those responsible in
this case are still underway and that, therefore, it had not violated the human rights of the alleged
victims. It also states that the initial acts of violence were not imputable to the State as they appeared to
have been committed by private citizens.
5.
After examining the positions of the parties and analyzing the facts in the case, and
pursuant to Article 50 of the American Convention, the IACHR has concluded in this report that the State
of Guatemala violated the rights enshrined in Articles 4, 5, and 11 of the American Convention in
1
2010.
Report on Admissibility 110/10, Petition 1560/07, Claudina Isabel Velásquez Paiz et al. (Guatemala), October 4,