19. The Inter-American Court has pronounced on those edicts, stating that "[...] there were police practices in Argentina, including the so-called razzias, detentions to verify identity and detentions under police edits on misdemeanors [...] Razzias are incompatible with respect for fundamental rights, including presumption of innocence, existence of a court order for detention –except in situations of flagrancy- [...]5 20. In the instant case, the State referred to those edicts and stated that José Delfín Acosta Martínez had been detained "in application of a drunkenness edict" which was in effect at the time.6 21. According to the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism (INADI),7 "approval of the Urban Coexistence Code by the Legislature of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires in March 1998 repealed the police edict system against municipal misdemeanors -- and hence the arbitrary detentions it had triggered -- and was a step forward in terms of respect for the fundamental rights of citizens. The most frequently used characterizations of misdemeanors described personal characteristics -- rather than forms of behavior - that were slanted against persons of a particular social status, sexual orientation or age."8 22. In 2001, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination voiced concern over xenophobia against immigrants in Argentina, especially those from neighboring countries, asylum-seekers, and Afro-descendants. It also noted with concern "that there have been reports of police brutality committed on a variety of pretexts, on grounds of race, colour or ethnic origin." 9 More recently, the Committee has referred to "persistent structural discrimination against indigenous peoples and people of African descent and the invisibility of people of African descent in terms of their rights."10 23. The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance stated, in reference to his mission to Argentina in 2017, that he had been informed about a trend whereby the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Police and Argentine Federal Police enforce profiling in identity checks on the streets. The Rapporteur pointed out that "[t]he practice disproportionately affects migrants and people of African descent."11 B. The detention and death of José Delfín Acosta Martínez 24. José Delfín Acosta Martínez was born on April 21, 1963, in Montevideo, Uruguay, the son of Miguel Ángel Acosta and Rosa Blanca Martínez. José Delfín was an Afro-descendant and an active defender of the rights of Africans and of persons of African descent. With his brother, Ángel Acosta Martínez, he co-founded the Grupo Cultural Afro and the Centro Cultural Afro in the City of Buenos Aires. He performed as a dancer and musician and taught at the Universidad del Tango in Buenos Aires. He gave candombe classes at the Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas, taught capoeira martial arts, worked as a journalist for Mundo Uruguayo, and was a member of the Standing Committee of Uruguayan Representatives of Buenos Aires (CARUBA) of the Uruguayan Consulate in Buenos Aires.12 These facts were not contested by the State. 25. The Commission notes that there is no dispute among the parties regarding the fact of José Delfín Acosta Martínez's detention by Federal Police on April 5, 1996, when he was outside a club in downtown Buenos Aires; nor about the fact that he died in an ambulance a few hours after his detention. The dispute revolves around the matter of whether his arrest was illegal and arbitrary and around the circumstances of his death. I/A Court HR. Case of Bulacio v. Argentina Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of September 18, 2003, par. 137. State’s report of April 29, 2005. 7 Established by Law No. 24.515 of 1995 as a dependency of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. 8 INADI. La Discriminación en Argentina. [Discrimination in Argentina] Diagnóstico y respuestas.[Diagnostic assessment and responses] July 2005 9 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. CERD/C/304/ Add.112 of 27 April 2001. 10 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. CERD/C/ARG/CO/21-23 of 11 January 2017. 11 Text 7. Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance on his mission to Argentina. A/HRC/RES/41/Add.1, 18 April 2017. 12 Appendix 1. Initial petition of June 6, 2002. 5 6