99
To make reparations to the victims for denial of their rights, by means of
payment of a pecuniary compensation, to be established by the Court. The
Commission endorses all the measures for public acknowledgment of
responsibility and correction of the wrongs to the good name and honor of the
victims by the State, requested by the representatives of the victims and of
the next of kin.
e)
As a guarantee of sanctions:
To conduct a serious, independent, and impartial investigation to individually
identify and punish the State agents responsible for the unreasonable delay of
the military and judicial proceedings opened.
f)
As a guarantee of non-recidivism:
To order the legislative and other provisions necessary to prevent and avoid
repetition of similar violations in the future, and to punish their perpetrators,
modifying domestic legislation if this is necessary. The Commission supports
the request made by the representatives of the victims and of the next of kin,
for the State to include courses on protection of human rights in the study
programs of military and police academies and to promote the establishment
of a strictly civil Police corps in charge of public security.
Arguments of the State
114. For the reasons stated before regarding application of the estoppel principle,
in the chapter on assessment and use of the evidence, the Court will not refer, in this
section, to the arguments of the State pertaining to other forms of reparation of the
damage caused by the facts in this case.
Considerations of the Court
115. All the States party to the American Convention have the duty to investigate
human rights violations and to punish the perpetrators and accessories after the fact
in said violations. And any person who considers himself or herself to be a victim of
such violations has the right to resort to the system of justice to attain compliance
with this duty by the State, for his or her benefit and that of society as a whole.192
116. The Court notes that in this case there are several circumstances attributable
to the State and that constituted obstacles to investigation of the facts, and to
identification and punishment of those responsible, as follows: a) lack of willingness
and commitment of the competent authorities to undertake the respective criminal
proceedings under regular and military jurisdiction, which led to numerous
irregularities and unjustifiable delays; b) lack of access by the victims, their next of
kin or their representatives to the criminal investigations and proceedings due to the
so called “secrecy of the preliminary investigations;” and c) use of common graves
and subsequent denial of their existence by the authorities.
192
Cf. Trujillo Oroza Case. Reparations, supra note 2, para. 99; Bámaca Velásquez Case.
Reparations, supra note 2, paras. 75 and 77; and Cantoral Benavides Case. Reparations, supra note 27,
paras. 69 and 70.
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents