of the international law of human rights". By applying these provisions
that deny the right to reparations, the courts are thereby placing the
State of Chile in a flagrant violation of the American Convention, Article
2 of which requires states to adapt their internal legislation to the
provisions of the Convention, something that has not occurred in this
case.
12.
Mrs. Ordenes received a survivor's (widow’s) pension and
education and health benefits for specified beneficiaries (her children) to
a specified age limit under Law 19,123. The constitutional governments
granted these benefits to the relatives of victims, claim the petitioners,
but they must not be confused with real measures of reparation, "as the
Inter-American Commission itself has indicated in considering cases of
denial of justice from Chile, through application of the amnesty".
13.
On the basis of these facts and considerations, the petitioners
requested the Commission to accept their complaint and to declare that
the judgments of the Chilean courts, in applying the statutory limitations
of civil law to an issue involving violations of human rights and thereby
preventing just reparations for the relatives of the victims, violated the
commitments assumed by the Chilean State when it signed the
American Convention, in particular the rights enshrined in Articles 1.(1),
2, 8 and 25 of that treaty.
B.
Position of the State
14. In its response, the State noted that it was providing information
on a complaint relating to events that occurred during the military
régime that held power in Chile between September 1973 and March
1990.
15. The State observed that the reestablishment of democratic
government marked the beginning of a lengthy and arduous process of
updating and adapting its conduct and its internal rules to bring them
into accord with international human rights treaties. The most important
fact in this connection was approval of the reform to Article 5 of the
Constitution, which provided for a general recognition of the
international treaties approved in this area. There was unanimous
political agreement in Chile that the exercise of sovereignty is limited by
the duty to uphold the essential rights inherent in human nature. State
organs are obliged to respect and promote these rights, guaranteed by
the Constitution and also by the international treaties in force to which
Chile is a state party.
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