victims in the case and influenced the actions of the authorities, preventing proceedings to
be conducted that would have punished those responsible.
iv)
Conclusion
420. Based on the above, the Court concludes that the State violated the right to judicial
protection established in Article 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights, in relation
to Articles 1(1) and 2 of this instrument, to the detriment of: (a) the 43 Hacienda Brasil
Verde workers rescued during the April 23, 1997, inspection and who have been identified
by the Court in this judgment (supra para. 199), and (b) the 85 Hacienda Brasil Verde
workers rescued during the March 15, 2000, inspection and who have been identified by the
Court in this judgment (supra para. 206). In addition, the Court concludes that, with regard
to Antônio Francisco da Silva, who was a minor during some of the facts of the case, the
violation of Article 25 of the American Convention declared above is also related to Article 19
of this instrument.
B.4. The investigations into the alleged disappearance of Iron Canuto da Silva
and Luis Ferreira da Cruz
421. The Court notes that, in this case, it has not been alleged that the State violated its
obligation to respect the rights to personal liberty, personal integrity, life, recognition of
juridical personality and the rights of the child of Iron Canuto da Silva and Luis Ferreira da
Cruz. The dispute has been submitted only with regard to the alleged failure of the State to
comply with its obligation to ensure these rights by an investigation. Therefore, the Court
will now analyze the effectiveness of the investigations.
B.4.1 Arguments of the parties and of the Commission
422. The Commission argued that, in 1988, when the State authorities received the report
of the disappearance of the adolescents, Iron Canuto da Silva, aged 17, and Luis Ferreira da
Cruz, aged 16, they took two months before they visited Hacienda Brasil Verde, where they
were informed that the adolescents had fled to another hacienda in the area. The authorities
did not take any step to confirm this situation or to open an investigation in this regard. The
Commission considered that the disappearance of the adolescents and their situation of
vulnerability resulted in their exclusion from the State’s institutional and legal system,
prevented them from filing any type of legal action regarding the exercise of their rights, and
has maintained them outside the real world and the legal sphere. The Commission also
indicated that the disappearance of Iron Canuto da Silva and Luis Ferreira da Cruz was a
clear example of structural discrimination because, despite the time that has passed since
their disappearance, the State has failed to take any serious measure to investigate the facts
and locate the young men. Consequently, the Commission concluded that Iron Canuto da
Silva and Luis Ferreira da Cruz were victims of the violation of Articles 7, 5, 4, 3 and 19 of
the American Convention, in relation to Articles 8, 25 and 1(1) of this instrument.
423. The representatives argued that, owing to the complaint filed by the next of kin of
Luis Ferreira da Cruz and Iron Canuto da Silva, the State was directly and promptly aware of
their disappearance. However, ignoring the special measures of protection that should be
observed with regard to minors, the State authorities did not act immediately; rather, it was
only two months after the complaint that the Federal Police visited the site of the facts and
proceeded to interview some people, who indicated that Luis Ferreira da Cruz and Iron Canuto
da Silva had fled to another hacienda. The Federal Police did not verify this fact or open an
investigation of any kind. The representatives also asserted that, although the State obtained
information on the whereabouts and decease of Iron Canuto da Silva in 2007, this was not
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