undertaken to comply with a wide range of measures of reparation, most of which it had
already fulfilled, and other were starting to be implemented.
27.
In addition, the State indicated that the issue of the death of Ricardo David Videla
Fernández was included in a document signed by the government of the province of
Mendoza on August 28, 2007, in the context of Case No. 12,532 on the Inmates of the
Mendoza Prisons, and that the State had even undertaken to take all the necessary steps
within its sphere of competence to ensure that the investigations continued into all the
human rights violations that led to the granting of provisional measures by the InterAmerican Court, including the death of Ricardo David Videla. It concluded that the Court
could not exercise its competence with regard to the alleged violations of the rights
contained in Articles 4 and 5 of American Convention to the detriment of Ricardo David
Videla Fernández, as well as of Articles 8 and 25 of this instrument, to the detriment of his
next of kin, because, if it did so, it would be breaching the principle of “international res
judicata.”
28.
The Commission indicated that when it issued its ruling on the merits of this case,
the specific list of presumed victims in case 12,532 on the Inmates of the Mendoza Prisons
had not yet been defined, and that it was not unusual for certain general situations, such as
problems of a structural nature in detention centers, to be analyzed in the context of
different petitions, provided that the presumed victims were different. It emphasized that,
in case 12,532 on the Inmates of the Mendoza Prisons, which culminated in a friendly
settlement, the list of presumed victims was not closed, nor were all the victims
individualized. Meanwhile, this case refers to the specific situation of Ricardo David Videla
Fernández and Saúl Cristian Roldán Cajal during the time they spent in the Mendoza
Prisons, as well as the violations of the American Convention arising from this. In particular,
regarding the death of Ricardo David Videla Fernández, the Commission indicated that
“although the name of the youth Videla Fernández was included when addressing the issue
of violent deaths in the prisons, his death was not discussed during the adversarial
proceedings, and neither was the component concerning the obligation of prevention and
investigation, matters that are analyzed in this case.” Therefore, the Commission indicated
that this preliminary objection was inadmissible.
29.
The representative argued that the objection of international res judicata was clearly
inadmissible. With regard to Saúl Cristian Roldán Cajal, the representative stated that he
had never been included as a victim in case No. 12,532, and did not appear in the official
record acknowledging State responsibility dated August 28, 2007. The facts and human
rights violations discussed in this case had never been debated or determined in that
international proceeding. As regards Ricardo David Videla Fernández, the representative
stated that he was included on the list of victims regarding whom the State admitted its
international responsibility within the framework of the friendly settlement procedure in
case 12,532 on the Inmates of the Mendoza Prisons. However, regarding his death and
threats to his physical integrity and health, the State’s acknowledgement was partial.
Argentina only acknowledged some human rights violations concerning the detention
conditions he suffered that led directly to his death, but not other circumstances related to
the treatment he received during his detention while serving an unlawful sentence. She
underscored that, in the friendly settlement agreement, the State had not acknowledged its
international responsibility for the errors or delay in the investigations into the deaths and
serious attacks on physical integrity committed against the inmates of the Mendoza Prisons.
B2.
Considerations of the Court
14