the American Convention that, if proven, could constitute violations of
Articles 1(1), 2, 8 and 25 of the Convention. The petitioner also alleged
violations of Articles 4, 5, 7, 24 and 63(1) of the American Convention,
but offered no arguments or evidence to substantiate such violations.
Specifically, the petitioner alleges the denial of justice in the fact that in
2003 the Chilean Supreme Court, on grounds of statutory limitations,
denied his application for compensation for mental suffering occasioned
by the alleged arbitrary arrest, torture and execution of Mr. Jorge Ovidio
Osorio Zamora by State agents.
20. The principal argument presented in the response by the State on
February 18, 2005 is that Chile is not responsible, under the American
Convention, for violations allegedly committed during the period
between September 11, 1973 and March 11, 1990. The Commission
considers that in the case at hand the allegations refer only to the
judgments handed down by the Chilean courts between 1999 and 2003,
when the Convention was already in effect for Chile. As to the State's
argument that the Commission should declare the petition inadmissible
because the events began prior to March 11, 1990, the Commission
rejects this argument because the judicial proceedings constitute events
independent of the summary executions. The Commission bases this
conclusion on the judgment of November 23, 2004 in the case of the
Sisters Serrano Cruz vs. El Salvador, in which the Inter-American Court
held:
84.
The Court considers that the events that occurred after
recognition of the Court's jurisdiction by El Salvador, referring to
the alleged violations of Articles 8 and 25 of the Convention in
relation with Article 1.1 thereof, are not excluded by the limitation
imposed by the State, because what is at issue are judicial
decisions constituting independent events that began after El
Salvador's recognition of the Court's jurisdiction, and that could
constitute specific and independent instances of the denial of
justice occurring after recognition of the Court's jurisdiction.
21. In the case at hand, as in the Sisters Serrano Cruz case, the
petitioners have alleged a violation of due process, in particular, that the
State applied the statute of limitations under private international law in
order to deny justice, i.e. the possibility of reparations for an
international crime committed by State agents. Despite the fact that the
violations of due process could not have occurred without the
antecedent summary execution, the Inter-American Court considers
judicial rulings to be events independent and autonomous from the
situation that gave rise to them. In its judgment of September 3, 2004
7
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