96
jurisprudence,375 the State must ensure the next of kin of the victims full access
and the capacity to take part in all the stages of the investigation and trial of
those responsible, pursuant to domestic law and to the American Convention. In
addition, the results of the corresponding procedures should be publically
disclosed thereby permitting Brazilian society to know the facts of the present
case, as well as those responsible.376
2. Determination of the whereabouts of the victims
258. The Commission requested the Court to order Brazil to strengthen, by
means of financial and logistical resources, the efforts undertaken in the search
and burial of the disappeared victims whose bodily remains have yet to be found
and identified.
259. The representatives appreciated the efforts carried out by the State to
locate the bodily remains of the disappeared victims in this case, but expressed
that the whereabouts and circumstances of the disappearance of these persons
is still unknown. They requested the Court to order the State to proceed,
immediately, in finding, locating and identifying the victims of this case,
ensuring that the guarantees of due diligence be respected, which are essential
in the investigation of cases of this magnitude, as well as the impartiality and
effectiveness of the procedures. This work must be planned, directed, and
effectuated by an interdisciplinary team that is particularly prepared for this
task, under the control of judicial authorities, in order to ensure the validity and
integrity of the evidence obtained. Likewise, they requested that the State
determines the identity of the located bodily remains from the earlier missions
made in the Araguaia region and that these bodily remains be delivered quickly
to the next of kin upon proof of kinship. The State must cover all the costs, and
must respect the traditions and customs of the next of kin of the victims. In
addition, they indicated that the consolidation of a bank of DNA samples from
the next of kin of the victims is necessary. In particular, regarding the Tocantins
Working Group, they stated that it is not an appropriate mechanism to carry out
the search for the disappeared persons of the Guerrilla, given that it does not
satisfy the abovementioned criteria.
260. The State reported that as of 2006, 13 expeditions were carried out in
the Araguaia region with the intention of locating the bodies of the disappeared
members of the Guerrilla, some by the next of kin of the disappeared members
and others by public institutions. Moreover, the investigations on the possible
“Operation Cleansing” are still underway, in which, so as to end the Guerrilha do
Araguaia, the soldiers supposedly removed from the terrain all of the bodily
remains of the members of the Guerrilla for their subsequent incineration. In
particular, on the Tocantins Working Group, the State noted that it was created
so as to coordinate and execute the necessary activities in locating, recognizing,
and identifying the bodies of the members of the Guerrilla and of the soldiers
who died in the Guerrilha do Araguaia. Subsequently, the Interinstitutional
Committee for the Oversee of the Tocantins Working Group was created whose
note 24, para. 332; Case of Fernández Ortega et al., supra note 53, para. 229, and Case of Rosendo
Cantú et al., supra note 45, para. 212.
375
Cf. Case of the Caracazo v. Venezuela. Reparations and Costs. Judgment of August 29, 2002.
Series C No. 95, para. 118; Case of Chitay Nech et al., supra note 25, para. 237, and Case of Ibsen
Cárdenas and Ibsen Peña, supra note 24, para. 238.
376
Cf. Case of the Caracazo. Reparations and Costs, supra note 375, para. 118; Case of Manuel
Cepeda Vargas, supra note 18, para. 217, and Case of Ibsen Cárdenas and Ibsen Peña, supra note
24, para. 238.
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