group of alleged victims who were in the same situation.243 In this regard, the Court
emphasizes that it is not incumbent upon it to search through the available body of
evidence to determine whether there has been a violation of the rights of other alleged
victims, who were not expressly identified by the party alleging the violation.
181. When submitting its answering brief, the State indicated that, “for the specific
analysis of each file decided favorably (and its comparison with some decided
unfavorably), it referred to the complete and clear brief that […] the members of the
Advisory Commission submitted to the 19th Criminal Judge of First Instance” in the
criminal proceedings filed against the members of the said Commission (supra para. 99).
Uruguay maintained that this document “reveals clearly that, in none of the cases
decided unfavorably that are specifically described by the Inter-American Commission
(numbers 52 (ii) to (v) of its application), was any suitable evidence provided to contest
the consent derived from the express instructions, or the presumption of consent arising
from the ‘general conditions’ or from the reception of the bank statements.”
182. The Court finds that, according to the probative elements provided, the
representatives’ arguments concerning the cases of Oscar Pivovar244 and Alba Fernández
have not been proved. Regarding Oscar Pivovar, the representatives argued that the
“[requested testimonial] evidence was never received” “from the Banco de Montevideo
Branch Manager.” Regarding this alleged victim the Court was only provided with the
decision issued by the Board of the Central Bank that decided his initial claim, which
does not reveal that he had offered any testimonial evidence that was rejected. The only
comment made in relation to the opportunity granted the petitioner to see the draft
decision was that “the arguments made […] when reviewing the draft decision do not
add new elements that would change the decision.” With regard to Alba Fernández, the
representatives indicated that “her signature was forged to attest her renewal, [and that
she] reported the fact to the [Advisory Commission], but it was never investigated.”
Similarly, regarding the procedure before the administrative body in the case of Mrs.
Fernández, the Court was only provided with the decision deciding the initial claim, from
which there is no evidence of the representatives’ allegation. The decision only reveals
that Alba Fernández did not make any observations when she was allowed to see the
Advisory Commission’s unfavorable draft decision.
183. Regarding the administrative procedure to determine the rights of the alleged
victim Alicia Barbani Duarte, the representatives argued that what happened in her case
is an “example” of the “alleged victims whose claim was rejected in the procedure before
the Advisory Commission, even though they had offered evidence of not renewing or
that their savings were subject to early buyback.” A copy of Mrs. Barbani’s Central Bank
file was provided and, from this, the Court has verified that a statement by a Banco de
Montevideo account manager reveals that Mrs. Barbani went to the bank “between the
end of May and the intervention of the Banco de Montevideo” to request the withdrawal
of her funds from the said bank, but the said official told her that she would have to wait
until the date of maturity on June 27, 2002. According to the administrative decisions in
relation to Mrs. Barbani’s case, as well as from the brief submitted by the members of
243
As helpful evidence (supra para. 10), the President asked the parties to indicate whether there were
alleged victims whose petition was rejected in the administrative procedures or in the proceedings under
administrative law, despite having offered evidence of their alleged instruction that their shares in certificates
of deposit should not be renewed. In their brief with final arguments, the representatives referred to the cases
of “Mr. Pivovar,” “Mr. Marenales” and “the depositor Alba Fernández” as cases in which there had been
unequal treatment in relation to the cases accepted. Furthermore, in response to the President’s said request,
they indicated that they “kn[ew] that there were alleged victims whose petition was rejected in the procedures
before the Advisory Commission, despite having provided evidence of not renewing or that their savings
should be returned before maturity, as, for example, the cases of Alicia Barbani and Jorge Marenales.”
244
In their final written arguments, the representatives referred to the case of “Mr. Pivovar,” without
indicating the complete name of the alleged victim to whom they were referring. During the public hearing
before the Court, the representatives identified him as Oscar Pivovar.
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