5
victims´ remains detailed in the State’s reports was accurate, they deemed it
appropriate to submit the following comments: a) on November 24, 2003, when
exhumation actions were commenced, only two members of the forensic anthropology
team working in support of the Committee for the Truth and Reconciliation [Comisión
de la Verdad y Reconciliación] (hereinafter, “CVR”)6 were admitted as observers; b) on
April 23 and June 22, 2004, the representatives requested the Special Prosecutor’s
Office to appoint two experienced expert witnesses, since according to the
representatives the experts that conducted the exhumation measures lacked the
necessary expertise to identify the victims and determine their cause of death. The
Special Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the request and stated that the task of the
experts of the Institute of Forensic Medicine [Instituto de Medicina Forense] had
already concluded; and c) on June 24, 2004, the Special Prosecutor’s Office ordered
the delivery of the allegedly identified victims´ remains to take place on July 5, 2004.
12.
Furthermore, the representatives highlighted that the victims´ next of kin had
shared with them "their doubts about the manner in which the identification actions
had been carried out and the lack of expertise of the members of the Institute of
Forensic Medicine [Instituto de Medicina Forense]." As regards Víctor Raúl NeiraAlegría’s next of kin, his sisters, in particular, expressed their wish to collect his
remains “to heal the 18-year lasting wound, even though they were still doubtful
about the remains´ effectively belonging to him [...]" The representatives stated that
they witnessed the delivery of the remains, which were placed in a coffin and later
buried without any kind of manipulation taking into account further research, and that
a notary public recorded the event. Edison Zenteno-Escobar’s and William Jans
Zenteno-Escobar’s next of kin decided to wait until the expert examination requested
by them was conducted, so they were not delivered the remains allegedly belonging to
said victims.
13.
That, additionally, the representatives stated that on September 27, 2004,
they requested the Special Prosecutor’s Office an expert examination to identify the
bodies and the possible causes of death of the victims, and proposed experts as
candidates for that purpose. On December 1, 2004, the Special Prosecutor’s Office,
regardless of having already granted other requests to conduct expert examinations,
dismissed the representatives´ request and discarded the possibility to identify the
victims, thus violating their right to know the truth. Lastly, the representatives
asserted that the State agent “erred when he stated that on July 15 and 16 [the
request made by them] was admitted.”
14.
On April 29, 2005, the representatives stated that the State had partially
complied with the obligation to locate, identify and deliver the remains of Víctor Raúl
Neira-Alegría, Edgar Edison Zenteno-Escobar and William Jans Zenteno-Escobar to
their next of kin because the remains of the victims of June 18 and 19 events had
already been located. However, they noted that the State had failed to comply with
the obligation to identify and deliver the remains of the three victims to their next of
kin. Finally, they requested the Court to urge the State to adopt the necessary and
6
By Supreme Decree No. 065-2001-PCM, the CVR was created and was definitely named Committee
for the Truth and Reconciliation (Supreme Decree No. 101-2001-PCM), as an institution tasked with
clarifying the process, events and liabilities of the terrorist violence and the human rights violations
occurred from March 1980 until November 2000, attributed both to terrorist organizations and State agents,
and proposing measures aimed at reassuring the peace and harmony of the Peruvian people. The
Committee for the Truth was instructed to investigate the events occurred at the Correctional Facility of
“San Juan Bautista” (El Frontón), San Pedro (Lurigancho) and Santa Bárbara (Callao).