the Chilean State on March 26, 1999. The Commission set a period of 30 days for the State to
submit observations.
7. On April 22, 1999 the State requested a 30-day extension of the deadline for submitting its
response, and the Commission has granted such extension. On January 22, 2002 the Commission
repeated its request for information and set a period of 30 days for the State to submit its
observations. The State did not reply.
III.
THE PARTIES' POSITIONS
A.
The petitioners' position
8. The petitioners allege that on September 16, 1973 a group of some twelve Carabineros
[gendarmes] under the command of Raúl Neveux Cortessi and Manuel Segundo Castro Osorio,
came to the home of Mr. Luis Alfredo Almonacid Arellano, a professor and activist in the Chilean
Communist Party, President of the Central Única de Trabajadores (CUT) in the city of Rancagua,
and director of the Sindicato Unido de Trabajadores de Educación (SUTE). Mr. Almonacid Arellano
was detained in the presence of his family, beaten, pushed and insulted. Outside the victim's
home, Mr. Almonacid Arellano was pushed and lost his balance, whereupon Raúl Neveux Cortessi
shot him fatally.
9. According to the petitioners, on September 19, 1973, the First Court of Rancagua instituted
proceedings in an inquiry that it then dismissed on April 8, 1974. The Rancagua Appeals Court
reversed the dismissal, but the case was dismissed again. The petitioners allege that time and
time again over the course of 17 years, the case was dismissed and the dismissal overturned by
the Rancagua Appeals Court. According to the petitioners, "from then on the case resulted in
series of repeated dismissals of the accusations and eventual revocations of these dismissals by
the Court, which had been known, during the 17 years of the military regime for its independence
and constant efforts in the quest for the truth."
10. The petitioners allege that finally, on August 28, 1996 the Rancagua Appeals Court ruled that
Raúl Neveux Cortessi was to be tried for the murder of Mr. Almonacid Arellano. The Military
Prosecutor filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, which ruled that the military courts had
jurisdiction in the case. On January 28, 1997 the military court issued a final ruling dismissing the
investigation concerning Raúl Neveux Cortessi. The petitioners appealed the ruling, but on March
25, 1998 the court martial rejected the appeal and upheld the dismissal of the proceedings,
specifying that the law 1978 amnesty law, decree 2,191 was applicable. The petitioners contend
that the court martial's ruling definitively closed the judicial inquiries being conducted to establish
the circumstances under which Mr. Almonacid was killed; as a result, the material and/or
intellectual authors of the murder of Mr. Almonacid Arellano have gone unpunished.
11 In their response to the State's observations, the petitioners contend that the Chilean State is
responsible for the violations of the Convention committed by agents of the State, not just those
of the executive branch, but those of all branches of government, including the legislative and
judicial.
12. The petitioners further allege that although the historical context in which Mr. Almonacid
Arellano's death occurred was different from what it is under the current democratic government,
the responsibility of the Chilean State transcends historical eras and, by the international law
principle of the continuity of States, stretches beyond the era of democratic government and
encompasses that of the military regime as well.
13. Therefore, they allege that this constitutes a violation of Articles 1(1), 8(1) and 25 of the
Convention. Their argument is that the right to access to justice has not been guaranteed, that
the obligation to investigate and punish was violated, as was the right of Mr. Almonacid Arellano's
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