39. Subsequently, regular criminal proceedings were initiated to determine the criminal liability of those involved in the coup d’état of July 17, 1980, the assault on the COB, the arrest, torture, execution and disappearance of social leaders who opposed the disruption of the democratic-constitutional order, as well as the cover-up of said facts by agents of the State and their civilian collaborators. 33 A precedent for these proceedings had been set by the investigations of the Human Rights Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, which had been instructed on September 3, 1997 to "follow up on and verify the search for the remains of former congressman Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz.”34 On November 17, 1998, the Chamber of Deputies ordered initial charges to be brought against several people for deeds committed during the coup d’état.35 40. On February 18, 1999, the Third Investigative District Judge for Criminal Cases of La Paz initiated judicial proceedings against Franz Pizarro Solano, Felipe Froilán Molina Bustamante, and José Luis Ormachea España, for the crimes of murder, armed uprising against the security of the State, terrorism and cover-up; and against Raúl Solano Medina, David Humberto Alarcón Romero, César Altamiro Labadenz, Juan Aquize Rada, Rogelio Gómez Espinoza, Joaquin Quisberth Quiroga, Marcos Erminio Mena Vargas, Damian Gutiérrez Castro, and Sebastian Quispe Apaza, for the crimes of false testimony, cover-up, and conspiracy to commit crime.36 On April 18, 2001, the Third Investigative Judge for Criminal Cases of La Paz arraigned 17 persons on charges of armed uprising against the security and sovereignty of the State, terrorism, murder, cover-up, and false testimony. In the same resolution, provisional dismissal of charges was ordered for four other persons, on the grounds that the evidence gathered was deemed insufficient to indicate their participation in the facts of the case.37 These decisions included the facts relating to Juan Carlos Flores Bedregal. 41. On August 30, 2001, the Court declared the accused Franz Pizarro Solano, Damián Gutiérrez Castro, and René Javier Hinojosa Valdez in contempt of court and ordered the seizure of their assets. On a number of occasions the attorney for the Flores Bedregal family asked the Second Criminal Settlement Enforcement Court of La Paz to summon several of the accused to appear at oral hearings, issue arrest warrants, and perform certain evidentiary procedures38. 42. The family members of Juan Carlos Bedregal joined these proceedings as plaintiffs and requested that the accused be convicted of the crimes of "murder, armed uprising against the security and sovereignty of the State, ill-treatment and torture, false testimony, cover-up, conspiracy to commit crime, and forced disappearance of persons," based on the provisions of Bolivian criminal law and the Rome Statute.39 See: Appendix 8. Report of the Higher District Court of La Paz in the judicial proceedings entitled Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Público) versus Franz Pizarro et al., p. 2. Appendix 1 to the State’s communication of October 31, 2008. 34 See: Appendix 9. Resolution of the Chamber of Deputies of September 3, 1997, signed by its President at the time, Hormando Vaca Diez. Attached to the State’s communication of October 31, 2008. The file with the IACHR contains several of the investigative proceedings also undertaken pursuant to Supreme Resolution No. 218121 of August 19, 1997, which ordered that a search be conducted for the remains of Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz. See, for instance: Appendix 10. Ministry of the Interior (Ministerio de Gobierno) Communication S.N.R.I.P 0241/97 of August 20, 1997 Attached to the State’s communication of October 31, 2008. Through Chamber of Deputies Resolution No. 099 of October 23, 1997, the investigation was assigned to the Human Rights Commission of the Chamber of Deputies. Cited in: Appendix 11. Chamber of Deputies Instruction of November 17, 1998. Attached to the State’s communication of October 31, 2008. The petitioner explained that given that these facts also involved the disappearance of Mr. Flores Bedregal, she requested that his case be included in the investigation. See: Communication by the petitioner of June 30, 2008. 35 Appendix 11. Chamber of Deputies Instruction of November 17, 1998. Attached to the State’s communication of October 31, 2008. 36 Appendix 12. Initial decision to open investigations (Auto Inicial de Instrucción) issued on February 18, 1999 by the Judge of the Third Investigative Court for Criminal Cases of the Capital. Attached to the State’s communication of October 31, 2008. 37 Appendix 13. Resolution No. 158/2001, Arraignment by the Third Investigative Court for Criminal Cases of La Paz on April 18, 2001. Attached to the State’s communication of June 1, 2010. According to the information available, through Resolution No. 410/99 of December 22, 1999, the accused Felipe Froilan Molina was granted bail (“libertad bajo la modalidad de fianza juratoria”). It likewise transpires that legal counsel for the Flores Bedregal family complained in connection with the criminal proceedings that that decision constituted an irregularity and that that individual had threatened Ms. Olga Flores Bedregal and one of her attorneys. See: Appendix 16. Request for reversal of the release on bail submitted by Mario Zapana Poma to the Third Criminal Court of the Higher Court of Justice on April 24, 2009. Attached to the petitioners’ communication of Wednesday, April 29, 2009. 38 See: Appendix 14. Written submissions by attorney Eulogia Pantoja Vacaflor addressed to the Second Criminal Settlement Enforcement Court of La Paz, with a stamp indicating receipt on August 28 and September 23, 2006. Attached to the petitioners’ communication of October 5, 2010. 39 See: Appendix 6. Higher District Court of La Paz. Bolivia. Resolution No. 129/2007 of the Second Criminal Settlement Enforcement Court. Trial of Franz Pizarro Solano et al. for the crimes of armed uprising against the security and sovereignty of the State and others. December 12, 2007. Attached to the State’s communication of December 6, 2011. 33 10