46
the lack of an investigation of the facts, represents an infraction to the legal
obligation of the State, established in Article 1(1) of the Convention, in relation to
Article 4(1) of the same treaty, that being the right to guarantee all persons
subject to its jurisdiction, the inviolability of life and the right to not be deprived
arbitrarily of life.164 Finally, the Court has concluded that the enforced
disappearance entails a specific infringement to the right to juridical personality
established in Article 3 of the American Convention, given that the enforced
disappearance not only seeks to extract the person from the legal system, but
also to deny his or her existence and leaving the person in a state of legal limbo
or undetermined situation before society and the State.165
123. The Inter-American Court highlights the gravity of the facts, those of
which occurred during 1969 and 1974, which fall in the framework of “the most
extreme repressive phase […] of the military regime in Brazil” (supra paras. 86
and 87). In this regard, in its Final Report, the Special Commission on Political
Deaths and Disappearances of Persons characterized the period in which the facts
of the present case occurred in the following manner:
in an atmosphere of true “terror of State,” the regime launched [a] sudden
and devastating attack [against] the opposition groups […] in first place,
against the organizations that worked in the large capital cities […]. Between
1972 and 1974, it combated and exterminated a large Guerrilla base that the
[Communist Party of Brazil] held in a training camp in the region of Araguaia
[…].166
124. The enforced disappearances particularly affected the members of the
Guerrilha do Araguaia, one of the “groups with the highest number of
disappeared activists,”167 who represent half of those politically disappeared in
Brazil.168
125. In consideration of the above mentioned, the Court concludes that the
State is responsible for the enforced disappearances, and therefore, of the
violation of the right to juridical personality, to life, to personal integrity, and
personal liberty established in Articles 3, 4, 5, and 7, respectively, in relation to
Article 1(1) of the American Convention, to the detriment of: Adriano Fonseca
Fernandes Filho, André Grabois, Antônio Alfredo de Lima (or Antônio Alfredo
Campos), Antônio Carlos Monteiro Teixeira, Antônio de Pádua Costa, Antônio
Ferreira Pinto, Antônio Guilherme Ribeiro Ribas, Antônio Teodoro de Castro,
Arildo Aírton Valadão, Áurea Elisa Pereira Valadão, Bérgson Gurjão Farias, Cilon
Cunha Brum, Ciro Flávio Salazar de Oliveira, Custódio Saraiva Neto, Daniel
Ribeiro Callado, Dermeval da Silva Pereira, Dinaelza Santana Coqueiro, Dinalva
Oliveira Teixeira, Divino Ferreira de Souza, Elmo Corrêa, Francisco Manoel
Chaves, Gilberto Olímpio Maria, Guilherme Gomes Lund, Helenira Resende de
Souza Nazareth, Hélio Luiz Navarro de Magalhães, Idalísio Soares Aranha Filho,
Jaime Petit da Silva, Jana Moroni Barroso, João Carlos Haas Sobrinho, João
Gualberto Calatrone, José Huberto Bronca, José Lima Piauhy Dourado, José
164
Cf. Case of Velázquez Rodriguez, Merits. supra note 25, para. 188.
165
Cf. Case of Anzualdo Castro, supra note 122, para. 90; Case of Chitay Nech et al., supra note
25, para. 98, and Case of Ibsen Cárdenas and Ibsen Peña, supra note 24, para. 98.
166
Right to Memory and Truth, supra note 67, folio 5592.
167
Right to Memory and Truth, supra note 67, folios 5614, 5761 and 5762. In the same sense,
see the motives exposition No. MJ/352, supra note 149.
168
Cf. Right to Memory and Truth, supra note 67, folio 5758.
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