46
168. Furthermore, the Court finds that one of the most relevant ways to combat the
situation of impunity in cases such as this, is to investigate the actions of the State agents
implicated in the violations established in the judgment, whether they be police agents,
members of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, judges or general public officials, and this should
be done within the domestic jurisdiction by the competent public institutions.
169. Bearing this in mind and based on its case law,145 the Court decides that the State
must conduct the investigation effectively and within a reasonable time, as well as any
proceeding that is filed as a result of the investigation to identify, prosecute and, eventually,
punish the authors of Mr. Garibaldi’s death. In addition, the State must investigate and, if
appropriate, punish possible functional misconduct committed by the public officials in
charge of the Investigation. Also, as the Court has indicated,146 the victims or their
representatives must have access and capacity to act at all stages and in all instances of the
domestic proceedings filed in the instant case, in accordance with domestic law and the
American Convention.
iv) Revocation of Law No. 15,662/07
170. The representatives asked the Court to order the State to revoke Law No. 15,662/07
which granted Judge Elisabeth Khater the title of honorary citizen of the state of Paraná.
171.
The Commission did not submit additional arguments in this regard.
172. The State contested the pertinence of the request to derogate a law of the state of
Paraná granting the title of honorary citizen to Judge Elisabeth Khater. Brazil maintained
that it was difficult to imagine what effect this measure would have on the results of the
Investigation.
173. The Court is competent to order a State to annul a domestic law when its terms
violate the rights established in the Convention and are thus contrary to Article 2 thereof;
however, that was neither alleged nor proved by the representatives in this case. Based on
the foregoing, the Court does not admit the representatives’ request.
v) Implementation of Article 10 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
174. The Commission asked the Court to order Brazil to adopt and arrange the necessary
measures for the effective implementation of the provision contained in article 10 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure (supra note 127) in all Police Investigations; also to prosecute
any punishable acts related to forced evictions in settlements of landless workers that result
in deaths, in order to adapt to the parameters of the inter-American system.
175.
The representatives did not submit specific arguments in this regard.
176. The State alleged that the time limit for police investigations is regulated by
principle of reasonableness. In this regard, the term of the said procedure can
conditioned to the availability of the material resources essential for complying with
legal norm, as well as the particular circumstances of the case. Accordingly, article
the
be
the
10,
145
Cf. Baldeón García v. Peru. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of April 6, 2006. Series C No. 147, para.
199; Case of Kawas Fernández, supra note 14, para. 191, and Case of Perozo et al., supra note 14, para. 414.
146
Cf. El Caracazo v. Venezuela. Reparations and costs. Judgment of August 29, 2002. Series C No. 95, para.
118; Case of Kawas Fernández, supra note 14, para. 194, and Case of Valle Jaramillo et al., supra note 95, para.
233.
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