12
Court also notes that in its Order of May 26, 2010 the State was ordered to adopt all
measures necessary to ascertain the whereabouts of the beneficiaries and, immediately
thereafter, to protect their lives, personal freedom, and right to humane treatment.
19.
In this regard, the Tribunal takes note of the State’s efforts to search for the
beneficiaries throughout its national territory as well as to obtain the collaboration and
information of its many federal agencies (supra Considering 9). Likewise, the Court
observes that in the State’s last brief it indicated that the beneficiaries had been
included in the National Registry of Missing Persons (supra Considering 9).
It
acknowledges the formal efforts on the part of FEVIMTRA and the PGJE, as well as the
two open investigations in the Military Prosecutor’s Office (supra Considering 7-9).
However, the Court finds that 11 months from the date of the alleged forced
disappearance of the beneficiaries, the actions on the part of the State authorities have
not resulted in concrete results or positive advances capable of enabling a
determination as to the whereabouts or present situation in which Rocío Irene, Nitza
Paola, and José Ángel Alvarado find themselves.
20.
The Court finds it necessary to stress that when there are reasonable motives to
suspect that a person has been forcibly disappeared, swift and immediate action on the
part of prosecutorial and judicial authorities is necessary. This may be achieved by
ordering necessary and appropriate measures aimed at ascertaining the whereabouts of
the victim or the location of the place in which he or she may be deprived of their
liberty.19 In this regard, the Court notes the representatives’ observations in that the
State’s treatment of the present matter is more befitting a missing persons case rather
than one involving an alleged forced disappearance (supra Considering 13); this could
result in limitations on the effectiveness of the measures adopted by the State to
discover the beneficiaries’ whereabouts. Thus, the Court deems it necessary for Mexico
to address these observations in a detailed and thorough manner in its next brief.
21.
The Tribunal emphasizes that the present provisional measures seek to protect
the life, liberty, and right to humane treatment of the beneficiaries who are allegedly
the victims of a forced disappearance. In this regard, it recalls that pursuant to Article
II of the Inter-American Convention on the Forced Disappearance of Persons, of which
Mexico is a signatory, “forced disappearance” is defined as:
the act of depriving a person or persons of his or their freedom, in whatever way,
perpetrated by agents of the state or by persons or groups of persons acting with the
authorization, support, or acquiescence of the state, followed by an absence of information
or a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the
whereabouts of that person, thereby impeding his or her recourse to the applicable legal
remedies and procedural guarantees.
22.
Thus, the Court urges the State to take into account the characteristic elements
of this alleged violation when it adopts measures to determine the beneficiaries’
whereabouts. In particular, the Court observes that from the information submitted by
the State, the denial of knowledge about this matter on the part of those who have
been singled out by the family members as the parties allegedly responsible for the
beneficiaries’ disappearance is evident (supra Considering 9). This is so despite the
lack of any presentation of detailed and complete information on other members the
19
Cf. Case of Anzualdo Castro v. Peru. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations, and Costs.
Judgment of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of September 22, 2009. Series C No. 202, para. 134;
Case of Radilla Pacheco v. Mexico. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights of November 23, 2009. Series C No. 209, para. 221; and Case of
Ibsen Cárdenas and Ibsen Peña v. Bolivia. Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights of September 1, 2010. Series C No. 217, para. 167. See also: Matter of Natera
Balboa. Provisional Measures regarding Venezuela. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of
February 1, 2010, Considering clause thirteen.