2
1990. It originated in a petition (No. 10.078) lodged with the Secretariat of the Commission
on August 31, 1987, against Peru.
2.
In its application the Commission asserted that the Government had violated the
following articles of the American Convention: 1 (Obligation to Respect Rights), 2 (Domestic
Legal Effects), 4 (Right to Life), 7 (Right to Personal Liberty), 8 (Judicial guarantees), and
25 (Right to Judicial Protection), and requested the Court to “adjudicate this case in
accordance with the terms of the Convention, and to fix the responsibility for the violation
described herein, and that it award just compensation to the next of kin of the victim(s).”
In its last brief, the Commission added Articles 5 and 27 and deleted Article 2.
3.
According to the application, on June 18, 1986, Víctor Neira-Alegría, Edgar ZentenoEscobar and William Zenteno-Escobar were being detained at the correctional facility of San
Juan Bautista known as “El Frontón”, charged with the crime of terrorism. The Commission
adds that, as a consequence of a riot at that correctional facility on the date indicated, the
Government, by Supreme Decree No. 006-86 JUS, delegated the control of the prisons to
the Joint Command of the Armed Forces and that, as a result of this decision, the San Juan
Bautista correctional facility was included in the so-called “Restricted Military Zones.” The
Commission further claims that those persons have been missing since the date on which
the Armed Forces put down the riots and that their relatives have not seen or heard of them
since.
4.
On June 27, 1991, the Government presented its counter-memorial, in which it
refuted and contested all the facts described to the Court by the Commission, on the ground
that they did not reflect “the actual situation as verified by the reality of the events that
occurred at the 'El Frontón' correctional island on the occasion of the armed riot and taking
of hostages under the leadership of more than one hundred” inmates charged with
terrorism. The Government requested that the Commission be sanctioned for submitting the
case to the Court.
5.
On January 19, 1995, the Court delivered a judgment on the merits of the case, the
operative part of which:
1.
Declares that Peru has violated the right to life recognized in Article 4(1) of the American
Convention on Human Rights, in relation to Article 1(1) thereof, to the detriment of Víctor NeiraAlegría, Edgar Zenteno-Escobar and William Zenteno-Escobar.
2.
Declares that Peru has, to the detriment of the three persons cited, violated the right of
habeas corpus established in Article 7(6), in relation to the prohibition established in Article 27(2)
of the American Convention on Human Rights
3.
Decides that Peru is obliged to pay fair compensation to the next of kin of the victims on
the occasion of these proceedings and to reimburse the expenditures that they have incurred in
their petitions before the national authorities.
4.
Decides that the form and extent of the compensation and the reimbursement of the
expenditures shall be determined by Peru and the Commission, by mutual agreement, within a
term of six months as of the date of notification of this judgment.
5.
Reserves the power to review and approve the agreement and, should there be no
agreement, to determine the extent of the compensation and expenditures, to which effect the
Court does not close this case (Neira Alegría et al. Case, Judgment of January 19, 1995. Series C
No. 20, Operative part.)