The facts of the case concern the illegal recruitment of the child Gerardo Vargas Areco by the Paraguayan armed forces, as well as the torture and extrajudicial execution which occurred while he carried out military service.

The IA Court focused on the incorporation of children into the armed forces, in the light of international law and the development of standards of due diligence in the investigation of extrajudicial execution and the crime of torture, and established minimums for the investigation of these acts which States must, as a matter of necessity, take into consideration.