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to have “currently been subject to intimidation and persecution by
strangers.”
The Commission argued that the information presented by the
State was insufficient and it was still “waiting for further information” in
order to “issue a more informed opinion regarding Mrs. Harbury’s
situation.”
57.
The Court observes that, in the present case, not only is it
necessary to annul the 1999 dismissal (supra Considering Clause 9(a))
but it is also necessary to protect prosecutors and any other public
authority that promoted the investigation of the present case from any
threat, harassment, or intimidation. Among possible intimidations are
those complaints that can be considered to have been made in bad faith
as they seek to persecute authorities for trying to comply with the
orders of the Judgments and Orders issued by the Inter-American Court
in the present case. On the other hand, the protection against
intimidations implies ensuring the continuity of the tasks that promote
investigations, so that those officials committed to this task are not
easily removed or transferred. This consideration is inherent to the
Court’s orders in the sense of removing all obstacles, both legal and de
facto, that may generate impunity in the present case. In that sense,
the Court also positively values the decision made at that time by the
Supreme Court of Justice to transfer the case from the Court in
Retalhuleu to a Court in Guatemala City, taking into account that the
procedural subjects are in a specific situation of risk. The Tribunal is
awaiting more information on the implementation of the transfer of the
case.
58.
II. Analysis of the information on operative paragraph four of
the Judgment on reparations
With regard to the duty to adopt the measures to adjust the legal
system to international human rights regulations and humanitarian law
and to provide the full effectiveness of said regulations within the
domestic realm (operative paragraph four of the Judgment on
reparations), the State presented diverse information regarding the
“Initiative of the National Commission for the Search of People who are
Victims of Forced Disappearance and Other Forms of Disappearance,”
the possibility of “accessing confidential dossiers in the hands of the
59.
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