33
129. With regard to the State’s procedural activity, the proven facts before this Commission
show that on June 29, 2001 – that is to say eight months after the petitioners presented the complaint –
Mr. Quispealaya told Dr. Chang how the military instructor had beaten him in the right eye during
training and had threatened him, and Dr. Chang informed the Brigade General of Huancayo of these
events on July 6, 2001, yet there was no investigation into them, despite the State’s obligation to initiate
an investigation ex officio and immediately which allow in an immediately, independently and
thoroughly manner to determine the nature and origin of the injuries, identify those responsible and
start their processing.
The incompatibility of the military jurisdiction to try ordinary crimes
130. The Commission notes that alter the 5th Criminal Court of Huancayo ordered the
opening of an investigation on October 21, 2002, General Commander of the 31st DI Huancayo told the
Permanent War Council of the Second Judicial Area about the circumstances in which Mr. Quispealaya
had lost the vision in his right eye (November 4, 2002), and this communication led to the dispute over
jurisdiction by the Permanent Miltiary Judge of Huancayo on November 19, 2002 and in the accused’s
failure to appear before the 5th Criminal Court of Huancayo, as well as the resistance of the military
courts and soldiers to carry out his arrest, just as the 5th Judge of the Criminal Court of Huancayo
observed on March 12, 2003. As a result, the Commission considers that initiating proceedings in the
military courts only had the effect of complicating the proceedings that had started in the civil courts.
131. The Commission further notes that on May 12, 2003, the Permanent Criminal Chamber
of the Supreme Court resolved the conflict of jurisdiction in favor of the military courts, based on the
consideration that the crime committed was one that occurred in the course of duty. Similarly, the
Commission observes that on November 30, 2004, Mr. Quispealaya presented a motion to transfer the
case to the civil courts, which was again resolved in favor of the military courts. In this sense, the
Commission reiterates that the military courts should only be used to try active soldiers for the alleged
commission of offenses in the course of duty in the strictest sense. Human rights violations must be
investigated, tried and punished according to the law by ordinary criminal courts. The inversion of
jurisdiction in this area should not be permitted, because this undermines judicial guarantees under the
false pretense of effectiveness of military justice and implicates serious institutional consequences
which question the civil courts and the rule of law.116 Specifically, the IACHR has determined that given
its nature and structure, the criminal military jurisdiction does not satisfy the requirements of
independence and impartiality that Article 8(1) of the American Convention requires in cases involving
human rights violations.117
Civil jurisdiction
132. The Commission considers that although the proceedings were transferred from the
military courts to the civil courts alter the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal of December 15,
116
IACHR, Application presented to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Valentina Rosendo Cantú and others
vs. Mexico, August 2, 2009, para. 123; IACHR, Second Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Peru, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.106, doc.
59 rev. June 2, 2000, Chapter II, para. 214.
117
IACHR, Application presented to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Valentina Rosendo Cantú and others
vs. Mexico, August 2, 2009, para. 126; IACHR, Report No. 53/01, Case 11.565, Ana Beatriz and Celia González Pérez (México),
April 4, 2001, para. 81.