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application before the […] Court.” During the public hearing, Mrs. Rosendo Cantu
affirmed that she currently lives in a place and in conditions far from what she prefers
for security purposes. This situation of threats and harassment have resulted in the
ordering of provisional measures by this Court to protect those involved in the search for
justice, without the threats ceasing. The representatives concluded by requesting the
Court to declare the State responsible for the violation of the victim’s right to access
justice when “no effective measures were adopted for her and her representatives to
continue in their search for justice under secure conditions,” thus violating Articles 8 and
25 of the American Convention and 1, 6, and 8 of the Convention against Torture, and 7
of the Convention of Belém do Pará.
195. The State has reported to the Court that Mrs. Rosendo Cantú and her next of kin
have all the contemplated remedies in domestic legislation to denounce possible
accusations or threats; similarly it has implemented, in favor of her and her next of kin,
the necessary measures for her protection, such as the provisional measures in force in
this case. Likewise, it affirmed that “the factual elements that motivated the
implementation of precautionary and provisional measures do not makeup the factual
framework of the present case.”
196. The Court recalls that the alleged facts of harassment and threats, while not part
of the purpose of the litigation in the present contentious case, are being considered by
the Court in regards to the provisional measures filed opportunely (supra para. 15). In
this regard, the Court considers that there should not be obstacles in the search for
justice in the present case, and thereby, the State must continue adopting all necessary
measures to protect the victims and other people connected to this case, and guarantee
their safety, ensuring that they can exercise their rights to judicial guarantees and to
judicial protection without restrictions.
X
ARTICLE 19 (RIGHTS OF THE CHILD)260 IN RELATION WITH ARTICLE 1(1)
(OBLIGATION TO RESPECT RIGHTS) OF THE AMERICAN CONVENTION
197. The Commission stated that “the rape of Mrs. [Rosendo Cantú, then a minor of
age], as well as the actions of the military during the investigations of the case and the
subsequent impunity of those responsible [that] have continued to date [and] they
constitute a clear violation of the right of the State of Mexico to grant the special
protection guaranteed in the American Convention and the other international treaties
applicable,” to which it requested the Court to declare the international responsibility of
the State as a consequence of a violation of Article 19 of the American Convention in
relation to Article 1(1) of the same, to the detriment of Mrs. Rosendo Cantú.
198. The representatives highlighted that at the time of the rape, Mrs. Rosendo Cantu
was a seventeen-year-old girl child. The State “did not provide [her] primary medical
care, but rather [ten] days after she was raped” and that “she did not receive the proper
medical treatment for her suffering until [six] months [after] the incident when she went
to a private clinic.” This being the case, Mexico did not comply with its duty to seek the
enjoyment of the highest level of health for Mrs. Rosendo Cantú, tending to her status as
a girl child. Moreover, the State also did not adopt, in her favor, any other measures of
special protection. As such, they requested that the Court declare the responsibility of
the State for the adoption of special measures of protection given her status as a girl
260
Article 19 of the Convention stablishes that:
Every minor child has the right to the measures of protection required by his condition as a minor on
the part of his family, society, and the state.
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