2
demands of the guarantee-based approach: the rights and guarantees of minors,”
which are also reflected, with the liveliest interest, in those international instruments
that express the current status of this matter (paras. 24 and 25).
6.
The Judgment in the Bulacio vs. Argentina Case mentions the
acknowledgment of responsibility by the State and the agreement for a friendly
settlement signed on February 26, 2003 by the State, the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights, and the representatives of the next of kin of the
victim. These are two converging juridical acts, related to each other, although their
nature is different and each one has specific legal consequences. We should
highlight that the Judgment states that said agreement constitutes “a positive
contribution to the development of these proceedings and to effectiveness of the
principles that inspire the American Convention on Human Rights” (para. 37).
Previously, the State adopted a similar position in another contentious matter (Cf.
ICHR, Garrido and Baigorria Case, February 2, 1996 Judgment. Series C No. 26, and
Reparations (Art. 63(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights), August 27,
1998 Judgment. Series C No. 39). For this reason, in the instant Judgment “[t]he
Court highlights the goodwill shown by the State of Argentina before this Court [...]
which demonstrates the commitment of the State to respect for and effective
exercise of human rights” (para. 37).
7.
Acknowledgment of international responsibility encompasses the facts and
claims and determines conclusion of the dispute regarding the merits –unless this
Court decides otherwise, based on the authority granted to it by Article 54 of the
Rules of Procedure of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which has not
occurred in the instant case- and makes it possible to proceed with the establishment
of certain consequences of the facts, as this Judgment does. On the other hand, it is
possible to assume that two procedural concepts coincide in an acknowledgment of
responsibility, both of them with material repercussions, bearing in mind the scope of
said recognition: confession and acquiescence. In point of fact, as stated by AlcaláZamora, acquiescence is “an act of disposition, or a waiver of rights:” a renunciation
of the right to legal defense (El allanamiento en el proceso penal, EJEA, Buenos Aires,
1962, pp. 129 and ff.). “[C]onfession refers to factual statements and acquiescence
refers to legal claims” (Proceso, autocomposición y autodefensa (Contribución al
estudio de los fines del proceso), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto
de Investigaciones Jurídicas, 3d ed., Mexico, 1991, p. 96).
8.
Nevertheless, for purposes of this case it has been enough for the Court to
accept the acknowledgment of responsibility made by the State –set forth in the
agreement between the parties and corroborated at the public hearing held by the
Court- regarding violation of the various provisions of the American Convention that
were mentioned specifically and that include, among others, the right to humane
treatment and to life: Articles 2, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 25. Logically, acknowledgment of
responsibility means that the State considers that there were, in fact, behaviors of its
agents that breached the rights of the victim regarding points such as humane
treatment and the right to life. Non-fulfillment of the duty of custody, acknowledged
by the State –to which I will refer again, below, paras. 22-24, when I discuss the role
of the State as guarantor with respect to persons subject to its jurisdiction and
immediate control-, can encompass various behaviors that, both by action and by
omission, breach juridical rights set forth in the Convention: a breach that
encompasses, for example, humane treatment and the right to life.
9.
In any case, the parties have demonstrated their interest in finding this “area
for consensus” discussed in contemporary procedural theory, which enables