17
to humane treatment of various ICJP members. In its request, the Commission
referred generally to this point, arguing that “the beneficiaries have continued being
the target of threats, accusations, surveillance, and harassment,” while it particularly
referred to various specific alleged acts against some persons apparently belonging
to the ICJP. The Commission noted the continued impunity in the investigations in
which “[members of the ICJP] are being accused [as well] as in the inquiries into the
threats and harassment they have suffered” (supra Having Seen 2).
14.
The President of the Court requested that the Commission (supra Having
Seen 8) provide the names of the ICJP members that it considered to be in need of
protection via provisional measures and the particular situation of extreme gravity
and urgency in avoiding irreparable harm that each of them face. In this regard, the
Inter-American Commission sent a letter from the ICJP that, in its opinion, gave a
“detailed response to the Court’s request,” and which limited itself to “highlighting
some points.” Among them, the Commission stated that the ICJP has 56 members
spread among different work groups (supra Having Seen 10). Attached to its
communication, there was a list with the names of the employees and the group to
which they belonged. However, the Commission did not adequately satisfy the
President’s requirement concerning specifically describing each person’s situation of
extreme gravity and urgency in avoiding irreparable harm. In general terms, the
Commission reiterated information already present in its request for provisional
measures (supra Having Seen 2).
15.
The Court notes that by way of the Commission’s May 4, 2010 communication
(supra Having Seen 6), it apprised the Court of “new information” presented by the
ICJP concerning, among other things, alleged facts in relation to some persons
apparently belonging to the ICJP. Furthermore, through the communication of June
23, 2010 the Commission “transmitted” to the Court a letter from the ICJP in which it
referred to “new instances” of threats, harassment, and alleged plans to make
attempts against the life and limb of the ICJP members. Without further argument,
the Commission indicated that the content of the ICJP’s letter confirmed that its
members “find themselves in a situation of utmost gravity and vulnerability, while
their lives and right to humane treatment remain in risk of imminent harm” (supra
Having Seen 14).
16.
By the same token, through its letters of September 13 and 14, 2010 (supra
Having Seen 19, 20), the Inter-American Commission “informed” the Court that the
ICJP had made it aware of new facts essentially amounting to alleged threats,
harassment, and intimidation against some of its members. The Inter-American
Commission did not specify who these people were except for having mentioned Mr.
Danilo Rueda. The Commission also neglected to specify the nature of these acts or
when they were carried out, even in the case of Mr. Rueda. The Commission also
“informed” the Court of the ICJP’s position that state agents received “economic
support in order to carry out surveillance on three members of the organization,” but
did not provide the Court with any more information. Having regard for the
foregoing, the Commission stressed that “the members of the Inter-Ecclesial
Commission on Justice and Peace find themselves in a situation of utmost gravity
and vulnerability, while their lives and right to humane treatment remain in risk of
imminent harm.”
17.
In this regard, the Court considers it relevant to remind the parties that the
mechanism for provisional remedies requires showing that the conventional
benchmarks of gravity, urgency, and irreparability of harm indicated in Article 63(2)