REPORT No. 40/17 CASE 12.197 REPORT ON MERITS RAMÓN ROSENDO CARRANZA ALARCÓN ECUADOR MAY 23, 2017 I. SUMMARY 1. On April 5, 1998, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter the "Commission," “Inter-American Commission,” or "IACHR") received a petition lodged by José Leonardo Obando Laaz (hereinafter "the petitioner") alleging that the Republic of Ecuador was responsible for the unlawful and arbitrary detention of Ramón Rosendo Carranza Alarcón in November 1994 by State agents, as well as for his unreasonably long pretrial detention in the framework of an investigation and criminal proceeding for the crime of murder. 2. The State argued that Mr. Carranza’s arrest and the length of his pretrial detention were consistent with the provisions of its domestic system of laws and international standards. It held that Mr. Carranza had access to an array of adequate and effective remedies in order to challenge any supposed violation of his rights. 3. Having analyzed the available information, the Commission has concluded that the State is responsible for violation of the rights to personal liberty and a fair trial recognized in Articles 7(1), 7(3), 7(5), 8(1) and 8(2) of the American Convention, taken in conjunction with the obligations established in Articles 1(1) and 2 of that instrument, to the detriment of Ramón Rosendo Carranza Alarcón. II. PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION 4. The IACHR received the original petition on April 5, 1998. A detailed account of the processing of the petition up to the decision on admissibility is found in Report on Admissibility 154/11 adopted on November 2, 2011.1 5. On November 10, 2011, the Commission notified the parties of that report and placed itself at their disposal with a view to reaching a friendly settlement. On June 30, 2014, the petitioners informed the IACHR that they had no additional comments to submit. The State submitted its additional comments on merits on July 15, 2016. III. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES A. The petitioner 6. The petitioner alleged that the Republic of Ecuador was responsible for the unlawful and arbitrary detention of Ramón Rosendo Carranza Alarcón in November 1994 by State agents, as well as for his unreasonably long pretrial detention in the framework of his criminal prosecution for murder. The petitioner said that Mr. Carranza was kept in pretrial detention until his conviction in December 1998. The petitioner also claimed that the State was responsible for the violation of Mr. Carranza’s physical integrity due to the fact that, despite having tuberculosis while in detention, he did not receive proper medical attention. The details about the facts and domestic proceedings will be addressed in the “Proven Facts” section of this report, based on information provided by both parties. 1 IACHR, Report on Admissibility No. 154/11, Case 12.197, Ramón Rosendo Carranza Alarcón, Ecuador, November 2, 2011. 1

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