46
Ibsen Peña; the Ibsen family has been in charge of expediting the proceeding; there was
not any diligence in the gathering of evidence; the investigation has been obstructed by
the judiciary; the criminal definition of forced disappearance has not been applied to the
criminal proceeding; and, no action has been taken to locate the remains of Rainer Ibsen
Cárdenas or to determine the whereabouts of José Luis Ibsen Peña. The representatives
basically concurred with the arguments of the Commission.
136. The Tribunal takes into account that the State has broadly acknowledged its
international responsibility for the alleged violations regarding Articles 8 and 25 of the
American Convention (supra paras. 5, 25 and 26). In this respect, in this chapter of the
Judgment, the Court shall only make an assessment of some of the allegations put forward
by the Inter-American Commission based on certain elements contained in the case file of
the domestic criminal proceeding that the Tribunal deems important to develop for a better
understanding of the case. To that end, the Court shall refer to the main actions of the
criminal proceeding conducted at the domestic level.
A.
Criminal record 37/2000
137. The Tribunal notes that in said criminal case, Rebeca Ibsen Castro appears as
plaintiff, for what happened to his father and brother, José Luis Ibsen Peña and Rainer
Ibsen Cárdenas, respectively, along with Antonia Gladys Oroza, in relation to her son José
Carlos Trujillo Oroza.166 To such end, the Court notes that whenever necessary, reference
shall be made to some actions taken by Mrs. Oroza that had general effects on the entire
criminal proceeding; however, the analysis of the violations alleged in the instant case
shall be limited to the facts related to Rainer Ibsen Cárdenas and José Luis Ibsen Peña.
A.1.
Investigative Phase
138. On January 9, 1999, the District Coordinating Office of Public Defense of the Ministry
of Justice and Human Rights of Bolivia requested that the Prosecutor’s Office of the District
of Santa Cruz initiate judicial police proceedings on the disappearance of José Carlos
Trujillo Oroza. On January 11, 1999, the Prosecutor’s Office of the District of Santa Cruz
referred the complaint to the Technical Judicial Police so that it would proceed with
“preparing the judicial police proceedings.”167
139. On March 27, 2000, the Fifth Criminal Examining Magistrate’s Court of Santa Cruz
(hereinafter “the Fifth Criminal Court”) issued a preliminary investigation order against
some individuals for the crimes of deprivation of liberty, abuse and torture committed
against José Carlos Trujillo Oroza.168 In this respect, on April 6, 2000, Antonia Gladys
Oroza, mother of José Carlos Trujillo Oroza, filed suit before said court against the same
166
Previously, this Court issued two judgments in the Case Trujillo Oroza v. Bolivia. Cf. Case of TrujilloOroza v. Bolivia. Merits. Judgment of January 26, 2000. Series C No. 64, and Case of Trujillo-Oroza v. Bolivia.
Reparations and Costs. Judgment of February 27, 2002. Series C No. 92.
167
Cf. Brief of the Public Defense District Coordinator of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of Bolivia
addressed to the Attorney General of Santa Cruz, January 9, 1999 (Case file 37/2000, Volume 1, folios 2883
to 2885, and 11630 to 11631bis).
168
Cf. Order of the Fifth First Instance Criminal Judge of Santa Cruz (Case file 37/2000, Volume 2, folios
3044 to 3045, and 11788 to 11789).
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents