INTER - AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
COMISION INTERAMERICANA DE DERECHOS HUMANOS
COMISSÃO INTERAMERICANA DE DIREITOS HUMANOS
COMMISSION INTERAMÉRICAINE DES DROITS DE L'HOMME
ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES
WASHINGTON, D.C. 2 0 0 0 6 USA
April 13, 2011
Ref.:
Case No. 11.618
Oscar Alberto Mohamed
Argentina
Dear Mr. Secretary:
I am writing to you on behalf of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for the
purpose of submitting to the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights Case No.
11.618, Oscar Alberto Mohamed v. the Republic of Argentina (hereinafter the “State,”
“Argentine State” or “Argentina”). The case involves the prosecution and criminal conviction of
Oscar Alberto Mohamed for the crime of negligent homicide as a result of a traffic accident that
occurred on March 16, 1992. After being acquitted in the first instance, Mr. Mohamed was
convicted for the first time in a second instance proceeding. In that proceeding, a series of
guarantees were ignored, among them the principle of legality and non-retroactivity and the right
to a defense. In addition, given that Mr. Mohamed’s right to appeal the conviction was not
guaranteed as provided in the Convention, he additionally did not have an effective remedy for
rectifying those violations.
The State of Argentina ratified the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter
“the American Convention,” “Convention,” or “ACHR”) and accepted the contentious jurisdiction
of the Inter-American Court on September 5, 1984.
The Commission has appointed Commissioner Luz Patricia Mejía and IACHR Executive
Secretary Santiago A. Canton as its delegates. In addition, Elizabeth Abi-Mershed, Assistant
Executive Secretary, María Claudia Pulido, Silvia Serrano Guzmán, and Marisol Blanchard will act
as legal advisors.
Pursuant to Article 35 of the Rules of Procedure of the Inter-America Court, the
Commission attaches hereto a copy of Report 173/10 prepared in accordance with Article 50 of
the Convention, as well as copy of the entire case file before the Inter-American Commission
(Appendix I) and the annexes used in preparing Report 173/10 (Annexes). The State of
Argentina was informed of said report on the merits in a communication dated December 13,
2010, in which it was granted a period of two months to report on its compliance with the
recommendations. In response to the State’s request for an extension to submit that
information, the IACHR granted a one-month extension in a decision adopted on March 9, 2011.
On April 1, 2011 the State submitted a report presenting information on some
recommendations.
Pablo Saavedra Alessandri, Secretary
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Apartado 6906-1000
San José, Costa Rica
Annexes