75
g)
to establish a legal support fund for indigent persons;
h)
to absolutely forbid, in its legislation, the use of solitary confinement of
minors during their investigation; and
i)
to adopt legislation that introduces provisions reflected in the Geneva
Conventions and Additional Protocols pertaining to protection of the civilian
population, and of children, in situations of domestic armed conflict, and to
inform its security forces of said laws.
Pleadings of the State
226. Regarding to the Commission’s claims on reparations, the State expressed, in
general terms, that “it accepts the responsibility for the crime committed by [its]
police agents, and therefore it will jointly and severally provide reparations for the
injuries caused.”
Considerations of the Court
a)
Obligation to investigate the facts that gave rise to the violations, to identify
and to punish those responsible
227. The Court has found, among others, that the State violated Articles 8 and 25,
in combination with Article 1(1) of the Convention, to the detriment of the next of kin
of the victim, due to the situation of impunity of the mastermind or masterminds of
the facts, and this has generated feelings of insecurity, defenselessness, and anguish
in the victims (supra para. 118).
228. The Court recognizes that impunity of those responsible has not been total in
the instant case, as two direct perpetrators have been tried and found guilty of the
facts (supra para. 67.p). However, at the time of the instant Judgment, after more
than thirteen years, the mastermind or masterminds of the facts have not yet been
tried or punished. Therefore, this constitutes a situation of grave impunity, which is
an infringement of the duty of the State to investigate and punish those responsible
for the acts that abridged human rights in the instant case, injuring the next of kin of
the victims and fostering chronic recidivism of the human rights violations
involved.154
229. This Court has repeatedly referred to the right of the next of kin of the victims
to know what happened and who the agents of the State responsible for the facts
were.155 As the Court has pointed out, ““[w]henever there has been a human rights
violation, the State has a duty to investigate the facts and punish those responsible,
[...] and this obligation must be complied with seriously and not as a mere
formality”.156
154
See Case of Myrna Mack Chang, supra note 5, para. 272; Case of Bulacio, supra note 6, para.
120; and Case of Juan Humberto Sánchez, supra note 15, paras. 143 and 185.
155
See Case of Myrna Mack Chang, supra note 5, para. 273; Case of Trujillo Oroza. Reparations,
supra note 116, para. 100; and Case of Cantoral Benavides. Reparations, supra note 108, para. 69.
156
See Case of Myrna Mack Chang, supra note 5, para. 273; Case of Trujillo Oroza. Reparations,
supra note 116, para. 100; and Case of Cantoral Benavides. Reparations, supra note 108, para. 69.
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