The facts of the case relate to the prosecution and sentence to life imprisonment of 4 Chilean citizens for the crime of treason considered in Peruvian legislation as a form of aggravated terrorism. The Court understood that during the 80s and towards the end of 2000, Peru experienced a conflict between armed groups and military and police officers. This conflict was exacerbated by a systematic practice of human rights violations, among them extrajudicial executions and forced disappearances of people suspected of belonging to opposition political groups, which were carried out by State agents following orders of police and military leaders.

The IA Court considered the victims’ prosecution and sentence in the military court by a “faceless” tribunal, and the lack of precision in the definition of the criminal charges of terrorism and treason with which they were convicted, and affected their legal status in the enforceable penalty, the presiding court and the corresponding proceedings, resulted in the violation of their right to defense and the principal of legality.