62
90.
First, the Court considers it necessary to examine some of the statements
made by the parties to this proceeding. A first series of statements refers to the
innocence or guilt of Lori Berenson with regard to the crimes she allegedly
committed in Peru. In this regard, the State declared that the alleged victim was
guilty of having perpetrated serious crimes that fell within the purview of acts of
collaboration with terrorism.
91.
The Court is not empowered to rule on the nature and gravity of the crimes
attributed to the alleged victim. It takes note of the State’s allegations on these
points and states, as on previous occasions, that a State “has the right and the
obligation to safeguard it own security,”210 and that it must exercise this within limits
and according to procedures that permit both public safety and the fundamental
rights of the individual to be protected. There is a widespread recognition of the
primacy of the human rights, which the State may not disregard or harm.211
Nevertheless, the foregoing in no way justifies terrorist violence – whoever the
protagonists – that harms individuals and society as a whole and merits the most
energetic rejection. The Court emphasizes that its primordial function is to safeguard
human rights in all circumstances.212
92.
This Court is authorized to establish a State’s international responsibility as a
result of human rights violations, but not to investigate and punish the conduct of
State agents or third parties who may have taken part in these violations. A human
rights court is not an organ of criminal justice. On other occasions, the Court has
noted that it does not have competence to establish the criminal liability of the
individual.213 This statement is applicable in the instant case. Consequently, the
Court will determine the juridical consequences of the facts it considers proven. Also,
within the framework of its competence, it will indicate whether or not the State is
responsible for violating the Convention but abstain from examining the statements
of the parties concerning the alleged criminal liability of the alleged victim, a matter
that corresponds to the domestic courts.
93.
The second series of statements refers to the brief submitted by the State on
July 22, 2002, entitled “Demanda sobre el informe 36/02 de la Comisión
Interamerican de Derechos Humanos” [Complaint regarding report 36/02 of the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights] (supra para. 19), in which the State
requested the Court to declare that Peru had complied with “the standards
established in the Convention and the case law of the Court” in the trial of the Lori
Berenson case in the domestic jurisdiction.
94.
The Court does not deem it necessary to examine this claim in depth because,
in an order issued on September 6, 2002, it decided to admit the Commission’s
application and the State’s brief of July 22, 2002; the latter to be processed “within
the same proceeding as the application submitted by the Commission” (supra para.
210
Cf. Case of Juan Humberto Sánchez. Judgment of June 7, 2003. Series C No. 99, para. 111; Case
of Bámaca Velásquez. Judgment of November 25, 2000. Series C No. 70, para. 143 and 174; and Case of
Durand and Ugarte. Judgment of August 16, 2000. Series C No. 68, para. 69.
211
Cf. Case of Castillo Petruzzi et al., supra note 25, para. 204.
212
Cf. Case of Castillo Petruzzi et al., supra note 25, para. 89.
213
Cf. Case of the Gómez Paquiyauri Brothers, supra note 16, para. 73; Case of Hilaire, Constantine
and Benjamin et al.. Judgment of July 21, 2002. Series C No. 94, para. 66; and Case of Bámaca
Velásquez, supra note 210, para. 98.
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