deemed that the applicants should "comply with the procedure indicated by the appointed
authority" of the Armed Forces. 95
66.
Meanwhile,
the
Ombudsman,
through
Ombudsman's
Resolution
No.
RD/00016/LPZ/2010 of February 22, 2010 – issued in response to complaint No. 2041-LPZ2009 of Olga and Verónica Flores Bedregal against the Commander General of the Armed
Forces—, decided:
FIRST: To recommend to the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the
State to immediately have access to the files, public records, and documents
existing in the institution under its charge, to Carlos Flores Bedregal's family
and other disappeared persons, in compliance with Ministerial Resolution No.
0316 and other legal instruments.
SECOND: To remind the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the State
of his legal duty of respecting the right of access to citizen information, the
right to truth and non-impunity, and to comply with the regulations indicated
in this Ombudsman's Resolution.
THIRD: It is suggested that the Minister of Defense of the Plurinational State
adopt specific measures to comply with Ministerial Resolution No. 0316 by the
Armed Forces of the State, and allow the petitioners to immediately access to
the files, public records, and documents of the military institution. 96
67.
There is no record in the file that actions have been taken pursuant to Ombudsman
Resolution No. RD/00016/LPZ/2010.
D. Attempts to identify remains as part of the search for Juan Carlos Flores
Bedregal
68.
After the events of July 1980, the Flores Bedregal sisters received "many versions of
the apparent fate of Juan Carlos and where his remains may be, the vast majority with little
or no credibility.” 97 Three exhumations were carried out on two bodies that were buried in
clandestine cemeteries. 98 The first exhumation was carried out in February 1983 on an
"almost mummified body [...] that must have had a height of 1.50 m" and the forensic doctor
determined that it was not Juan Carlos Flores Bedregal. A second exhumation was called for
in March 1983, but it was not carried out. In April 1983, a body was exhumed. It had neither
feet nor hands, and, as recorded in its forensic certification, the individual "was neither tall,
nor short, nor fat, nor skinny." By order of the Supreme Court of Justice, the remains were
exhumed again in 1992, and examined by members of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology
Team who determined that the remains were not those of Juan Carlos Flores Bedregal. 99 The
Flores Bedregal sisters were present in all of these procedures.
69.
On September 8, 2021, in criminal proceedings No. 6441/09 before the Eighth
Magistrate’s Court on Precautionary Criminal Matters – prompted by the Public Prosecutor at
the request of the victims of Luis García Meza Tejada's dictatorship – the Prosecutor in charge
made "a complementary computer statement to [MFC] known as "the gravedigger" to obtain
Cf. Resolution No. 88/2009 of the Second Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of the District of La Paz,
of December 12, 2009 (case file of evidence, p. 558-559).
96
Ombudsman Resolution No. RD/00016/LPZ/2010 of February 22, 2010 (case file of evidence, p. 304-310)
97
Cf. Statement by Veronica Flores Bedregal, supra.
98
Cf. Communication from the Flores Bedregal sisters to the Inter-American Commission, June 30, 2008 (case
file of evidence, p. 626-633); Statements by Lilian Teresa and Verónica Flores Bedregal, supra, and Statement by
Olga Flores Bedregal, supra.
99
Cf. Statements by Lilian Teresa, Veronica, and Olga, all Flores Bedregal, supra.
95
22