46
claimed the violation of Article 19 of the Convention, given that the State did not
take into account the best interests of the then child Ramiro Osorio Cristales “by
keeping him separated from his family, with a different name and identity and […]
ignoring all measures to identify and locate his biological family in order to return him
to his home.”
158. The Commission did not plead the violation of the aforementioned rights in
the application167.
159. The State did not make any specific arguments to disprove the
representatives’ claims with regard to the alleged violations, but limited itself to
questioning the Court’s jurisdiction on this matter (supra para. 32).
160. The Court observes that the alleged facts on which the representatives
claimed the violation of Articles 17, 18, and 19 of the Convention with regard to
Ramiro Osorio Cristales are based on the fact that, after March 9, 1987, the State
kept him separated from his family who survived the Las Dos Erres massacre, with
another name and identity, after having been abducted and illegally retained by one
of the militaries who participated in said massacre.
161. On the other hand, taking into consideration that the Commission did not
claim the violation of the aforementioned Articles of the Convention to the detriment
of Ramiro Osorio Cristales, the Court reiterates its constant jurisprudence, in the
sense that “the alleged victim, their next of kin, or the representatives may invoke
rights different from those included in the Commission’s application, based on the
facts presented therein.” 168 Consequently, the Court must determine whether the
claims related to the alleged violation of those Articles are based on facts contained
in the application.
162. In this regard, the Commission indicated in the application that “only two
minors survived from dying in the hands of the Guatemalan army: a child who was
kidnapped by one of the kaibiles, and another child who managed to escape the
soldiers when they were being taken to the well” and that it “[h]as been extensively
documented that several children were saved from massacres in order to be
[‘]adopted[’] by army officers or taken to their homes as servants. [An example of
this practice is] precisely the case of the child survivor of the Las Dos Erres
massacre, Ramiro Fernando López García, [whose biological name is Ramiro Osorio
Cristales,] who was adopted by one of the soldiers who participated in the facts.”
163. Additionally, in the application the Commission included Ramiro Osorio
Cristales’ testimony of February 11, 1999 before the Judge of the First Criminal Court
of Petén, on that occurred in the community of Las Dos Erres, in which he expressed
that “the [kaibil Santos López Alonso] took him along with him through the mountain
and shared his food with [him], and that’s how he [ended] up in the School for
Kaibiles[. He was] at the School for Kaibiles for approximately two months, from
167
In this regard, it is worth noting that the Commission concluded, in the report on Merits 22/08 of
the instant case, that “[t]he State of Guatemala [was] responsible for the violation of human rights […] to
the protection of the family and of the child, […] in conformity with Articles […] 17 [and] 19 of the
American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) thereof” (supra note 5). Similarly, the Court takes
cognizance that in the Friendly Settlement Agreement of April 1, 2000, the State recognized its
international responsibility for the violation of several rights, including the rights of the family and rights of
the child (supra note 3).
168
Cf. Case of the “Five Pensioners” v. Peru. Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of February
28, 2003. Series C No. 98, para 155; Case of Acevedo Buendía et al. (“Discharged and Retired Employees
of the Office of the Comptroller”) v. Peru, supra note 30, para. 97, and Case of Escher et al. v. Brazil,
supra note 33, para. 191.
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