3
kidnapped and later arbitrarily detained and tortured so as to obtain from him a
signed ministerial confession that incriminated [him]. He was later indicted illegally
and convicted to 50 years in prison by a Court Decision Secretary rather than by a
judge.” On July 17, 1998, Mr. Martín-del-Campo submitted to the Commission
additional information concerning his petition.
6.
On August 10, 1998, the Commission sent a note to the petitioner whereby it
advised him that “for the time being it was unable to process his request, since the
information therein contained did not meet the requirements established in the Rules
of Procedure of the Inter-American Commission […], especially in relation to articles
32, 33, 34 and 37.” In consequence, the Commission requested him to submit to it
in due time the following information: a) a specific account of such facts as he felt
constituted violations of the American Convention, with reference to the respective
articles, and b) the final judgment of the internal jurisdiction with respect to the facts
denounced.
7.
On October 8, 1999, Mr. Alfonso Martín-del-Campo sent the Commission a
brief in response to its previous request. Further, on October 29, 1999, Christians
for the Abolition of Torture (hereinafter “ACAT”), the Center for Justice and
International Law (hereinafter “CEJIL”), and the Lawyers Committee for Human
Rights filed “a formal complaint, containing descriptions of what, in their opinion,
were violations, by Mexico, of human rights established in the Convention”. In their
complaint, the claimants requested the Commission to conclude that the State
violated articles 1(1), 2, 5, 7, 8 y 25 of the American Convention to the detriment of
Mr. Alfonso Martín-del-Campo. Furthermore, in relation to exhaustion of domestic
remedies, the claimants reported that the Office of the Distrito Federal Attorney
General had initiated preliminary investigation SC/3839/95-03, after a penal
complaint had been filed on May 11, 1995, for alleged tortures to which Mr. Martíndel-Campo had been subjected, without anyone having been identified as being
responsible; that Penal Court 55 prosecuted Mr. Alfonso Martín-del-Campo and
convicted him to 50 years in prison in the first instance, a decision that was rendered
final on August 17, 1993 by Section Eight of the Distrito Federal Superior Court;
that Mr. Alfonso Martín-del-Campo filed an amparo appeal motion against this
judgment which was rejected on December 02, 1997; and that on April 05, 1999,
the alleged victim filed a recognition-of-innocence remedy which was declared not
applicable on April 29, 1999 by Penal Section 17 of the Distrito Federal Superior
Court. Concerning non jurisdictional departments, the claimants pointed out that on
October 14, 1994, the office of the Internal Comptroller of the Distrito Federal
Attorney General’s Office issued a resolution that determined administrative liability
on the part of judicial police officer Sotero Galván-Gutiérrez, for having “arbitrarily
detained” Mr. Alfonso Martín-del-Campo, and for “not having abstained from the use
of force” against him; and that the alleged victim had filed complaints with the
National Human Rights Committee and the Distrito Federal Human Rights
Committee, which had produced no results.
8.
On November 04, 1999 and with a reference to case number 12.228, the
Commission transmitted to the State the pertinent sections of the claimants’
communication, which had been received on October 29, 1999. For its part, the
Commission, in conformity with the provisions of Article 37 of its Rules of Procedure
and together with information relative to the facts, requested that the State provided
any criteria which could help determine whether or not internal jurisdiction remedies
had been exhausted in this case.