12
On January 7, 1998, the Secretariat, at the President’s instruction, informed the
Commission that it had not received the documents referred to, since they do not
appear in the file of the instant case, having been rejected by the Court’s two Orders
of November 14, 1997. On February 9, 1998, the Secretariat, at the President’s
instruction, informed the State and the Commission that the former’s petitions were to
be brought to the attention of the Court at its XXIII Special Session to determine
what, if any, action would be appropriate (infra, para. 53).
52. On January 6, 1998, the State and the Inter-American Commission submitted
their briefs of closing arguments to the Court. The Commission’s brief was submitted
in English, and the Spanish translation followed on January 6, 1998.
53. On March 3, 1998, the State requested the Court to entrust one or more of its
members with the task of conducting, on Guatemalan territory, a judicial inspection of
the files it had previously offered as evidence (supra, para. 44). It also repeated its
request of December 10, 1997, and January 6 and February 4, 1998 (supra, para. 51),
and asked the Court to note that it had an amicus curiae brief in its possession. This
last petition was rejected by the Court on March 4, 1998. With regard to the other
requests, the Court referred to the decision contained in its Order of November 14,
1997 (supra, para. 46.3)
V
URGENT PROTECTIVE MEASURES
54. On October 3, 1997, the Inter-American Commission informed the Court that Mr.
Felicito Olíva-Arias, who testified at the public hearings on this case, had received a
death threat from Mr. Oscar Augusto Díaz-Urquizú, former Director of the Treasury
Police of Guatemala, hours after presenting his evidence at the seat of the Court in
San José, Costa Rica.
55. On October 6, 1997 the Secretariat, at the President’s instruction, informed the
State that it had until October 10 of that year to submit any information in its
possession on the facts denounced by the Commission. On October 9,
the State reported that it had taken steps to protect Mr. Olíva-Arias’s
safety and submitted to the Court a copy of some documents relating to
the accusation he had filed in the Costa Rican courts against Mr. Díaz-Urquizú. On the
next day, the State submitted a report from the Presidential Coordinating Commission
on Executive Human Rights Policy on Mr. Olíva-Arias’s situation. On October 29 the
State informed the Court that Mr. Olíva-Arias was being protected by the Guatemalan
National Police Department.
*
*
*
56. On February 5, 1998, the Commission requested the Court, pursuant to the
provisions of Article 63(2) of the Convention and Article 25 of the Rules of Procedure,
to adopt "provisional measures to protect the life and physical integrity of members of
the Vásquez family, including Oscar Humberto Vásquez, Raquel Solórzano, Thelma
Judith de Vásquez, Marvin Vásquez and Lydia de Vásquez." The Commission stated
that the request was made in relation to two cases: the instant case and that of
Vásquez et al. (No. 11.448) before the Commission. As the basis for its request, the
Commission stated that
3
On August 16, 1995 Oscar Augusto Díaz-Urquizú submitted a brief in his capacity as amicus curiae,
which was not formally added to the case file.