REPORT No. 10/11 CASE 12.329 ADMISSIBILITY VICENTE ARIEL NOGUERA PARAGUAY March 22, 2011 I. SUMMARY 1. On October 17, 2000, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Commission” or “the IACHR”) received a petition presented by Ms. María Ramona Isabel Noguera Domínguez, in her own name and in the name of the Asociación de Familiares Víctimas del Servicio Militar [Association of Families Victims of Military Service] (hereinafter “AFAVISEM” or “the petitioner”), which alleges the international responsibility of the Republic of Paraguay (hereinafter “Paraguay,” “the Paraguayan State,” or “the State”). The petition alleges violations of the right to life, the right to humane treatment, the right to a fair trial, the rights of the child, and the right to judicial protection guaranteed respectively in Articles 4, 5, 8, 19, and 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter “the American Convention” or “the Convention”), to the detriment of the minor Vicente Ariel Noguera, the petitioner’s son 2. The petitioner stated that Vicente Ariel Noguera, who at the time of the facts was 17 years old, had died in “circumstances that were not clarified” while fulfilling his second period of compulsory military service, with the rank of corporal candidate. She added when her son’s body was delivered, it had several wounds and there was blood on his underwear, as if he had been sexually abused. She said that despite the complaints filed, there had been no proper investigation of the facts. The military justice system decided not to order an inquiry into the alleged victim’s death because “there was no offense to investigate nor any criminal to punish,” and the civilian jurisdiction decided to archive the case because it had not been possible to identify the individual responsible for the death and for lack of initiative by the complainant. 3. When processing of the petition began, the State expressed its willingness to reach a friendly settlement in the case and provided the following information: a) that Vicente Ariel Noguera had been promoted posthumously to Reserve Second Lieutenant; b) that a monthly pension had been granted to Ms. María Ramona Isabel Noguera Domínguez; c) that in an interlocutory order of October 27, 1997, the Military Lower Court had dismissed the case in its entirety and ordered the proceedings archived; and d) that in the civilian jurisdiction, since no alleged perpetrators had been identified and there had been lack of initiative by the complainant, the case had been archived. In August 2007, the State reported that as of the date of the alleged victim’s death, there was no prohibition in Paraguay against military service under the age of 18; it noted subsequent advances in Paraguayan legislation that established a total ban on military service by minors under 18. At that time, the Paraguayan State asked the Commission to archive the instant case. 4. After analyzing the parties’ positions, the Inter-American Commission concluded that it has competence to decide on the petition submitted by the petitioner, which is admissible in the light of Article 46 of the American Convention, concerning the alleged violations of the right to life, the right to humane treatment, the right to a fair trial, the rights of the child, and the right to judicial protection guaranteed respectively in Articles 4, 5, 8, 19, and 25 of the American Convention, in connection with Articles 1.1 and 2 of the same instrument. The Commission therefore decided to notify the parties, to continue to analyze the merits of the alleged violations of the American Convention, to publish this Report on Admissibility, and to include it in its annual report to the OAS General Assembly. II. PROCESSING BY THE COMMISSION 5. On October 17, 2000, the Inter-American Commission received a petition presented by Ms. María Ramona Isabel Noguera Domínguez, in her own name and in the name of the Association of Families Victims of Military Service (AFAVISEM), which was assigned number 12.329. On October 24, 2000, the