would correspond to the examination of a possible adversarial case in the event that
there should be one. The Court has already indicated that a ruling on the merits is
carried out through a judgment within the proceeding of an adversarial case submitted
before the Court and not through a provisional measures proceeding.8 In addition to
this, the Court finds that those allegations do not meet the requirements for the
adoption of provisional measures as set forth in Article 6(2) of the Convention.
15.
Consequently, for the analysis of this request for provisional measures, the Court
will not take those allegations into account due to the impossibility of considering
elements directly related with the merits of this case, as indicated previously.
b)
Existence of alleged acts of harassment and attacks against life and
personal integrity.
16.
The Inter-American Commission has also based its request for provisional
measures on the alleged existence of threats, harassment, and attacks on the life and
personal integrity of Mr. Galdámez Álvarez, his companion, and his children, who,
starting in July of 2009, have supposedly received threats on several occasions,
including death threats, and have been subjected to attacks and surveillance (supra
Having Seen 2(f)).
17.
The Court observes that, according to the information provided by the
Commission, which has not been contested by the State, in August of 2009, Mr.
Galdámez Álvarez began receiving text messages on his cellular phone containing death
threats, allegedly as a result of his visit to the Ex-President of Honduras during his stay
in Nicaragua and to the reporting he had done on that visit for Radio Globo. Likewise, at
the beginning of the month of September 2009, two unknown individuals approached
two of Mr. Galdámez Álvarez’ children and threatened them with a gun, telling them to
tell their father that he had better “shut up.” During the time Mr. Galdámez Álvarez was
in the Brazilian Embassy - starting on September 21, 2009 - to cover the arrival of the
former president of Honduras, he apparently received phone calls from unknown
numbers repeating the warning to “shut up or die." Starting on December 21, 2009,
when Mr. Galdámez left the Brazilian Embassy, he began to be subjected to surveillance
by two vehicles, one of which supposedly also watching his house.
18.
The Tribunal has been informed that the threats and attacks have continued
during this year. In that sense, according to information submitted by the InterAmerican Commission, during the year 2010, Mr. Galdámez received numerous text
messages, insults, and threats from identified cell phone numbers. The Inter-American
Commission did not specify nor itemize the dates on which those messages were
received. However, neither has the State contested that information or denied it.
Nevertheless, the Commission specified that on the day following the death of
journalists David Meza, which took place on March 11, 2010, Mr. Galdámez Álvarez
received a message telling him he would “be next;" On September 14, 2010, after
concluding his news broadcast on Canal Globo, Mr. Galdámez was returning home at
11:30 PM, accompanied by one of his sons. Three individuals approach them and fired
several times. Apparently, Mr. Galdámez was armed and was able to “repel the attack.”
8
Cf. Case of James et al., supra footnote 12, Considering 6, Matter of the Jiguamiandó and Curbaradó
communities, supra footnote 12, Considering 6, and Matter of Gladys Lanza Ochoa, supra footnote 8,
Considering 7.