48
156. This right represents a parameter to determine if a person is or not entitled to the
rights in question, and if they can exercise them,145 reason for which the violation of that
acknowledgment makes the individual vulnerable with regard to the State or individuals.146
Therefore, the content of the right to acknowledgment of juridical personality refers to the
corollary general duty of the State to offer the means and juridical conditions so that right
can be freely and fully exercised by their bearers,147 or in its case, the obligation to not
violate that right.
157. In its judgment issued in the case of Anzualdo Castro v. Peru, this Tribunal
considered that, in cases of forced disappearance, in response to the multiple and complex
nature of this grave violation of human rights, its execution can include the specific
infringement of the right to the acknowledgment of juridical personality. Beyond the fact that
the disappeared person cannot continue to enjoy and exercise others, and eventually all the
rights to which it is also entitled, their disappearance seeks not only one of the most grave
forms of extraction of a person from all realms of the legal system, but also deny their
existence and leave it in a state of limbo or an undetermined juridical situation in what refers
to society and the State.148 In the case currently before us, this translates into a violation of
the right to acknowledgment of Mr. Rosendo Radilla-Pacheco’s juridical personality.
*
*
*
158. In consideration of the aforementioned, the Court concludes that the State is
responsible for the violation of the rights to personal liberty, to humane treatment, to the
acknowledgment of juridical personality and to life of Mr. Rosendo Radilla-Pacheco, by virtue
of the forced disappearance of which he is a victim, carried out by state soldiers. In that
sense, the State has the duty to guarantee the rights through the prevention and diligent
investigation of the forced disappearance. This forces the State to start serious and effective
investigations tending to determine his fate or whereabouts, identify those responsible and,
if it were the case, impose the corresponding punishments. The disregard for the fate of Mr.
Radilla-Pacheco, his whereabouts or that of his remains is still present up to this date,
without there being an effective investigation tending to find out where he is, which makes
the non-compliance of this duty evident. The Court will analyze in Chapter IX of this
Judgment what refers to the State’s duty to investigate. For the determination of the
violations argued, it is enough to mention that in this case the State has not effectively
guaranteed the rights included in the stipulations analyzed.
159.
In conclusion, the State is responsible for the violation of Articles 7(1) (Personal
145
Cf. Case of the Sawhoyamaxa Indigenous Community v. Parauay. Merits, Reparations, and Costs.
Judgment of March 29, 2006. Series C No. 146, para. 188; Case of the Saramaka People v. Suriname, supra note
144, para. 166, and Case of Anzualdo Castro v. Peru, supra note 44, para. 88.
146
Cf. Case of the Girls Yean and Bocico v. Dominican Republic. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations,
and Costs. Judgment of September 8, 2005. Series C No. 130, para. 179; Case of the Saramaka People v.
Suriname, supra note 144, para. 166, and Case of Anzualdo Castro v. Peru, supra note 44, para. 88.
147
Cf. Case of the Sawhoyamaxa Indigenous Community v. Paraguay, supra note 145, para. 189; Case of the
Saramaka People v. Suriname, supra note 144, para. 167, and Case of Anzualdo Castro v. Peru, supra note 44,
para. 88.
148
Cf. Case of Anzualdo Castro v. Peru, supra note 44, para. 90.
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