73.
The representatives generally agreed with the Commission's view. He argued that
Mr. Flores Bedregal was arrested and forced to go down to the street, at which time state
agents had effective control over the alleged victim; and that his death was never duly
corroborated; and that the fact that, days after the assault, photographs of political leader
Marcelo Quiroga have come to light with signs of torture, which make it possible to infer that
Mr. Flores Bedregal could have been transferred to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and suffered a
similar fate. In addition, he claimed that there is a persistent refusal to recognize forced
disappearance. He alleged that those involved have not yet revealed what happened, and
state authorities refuse to provide information and criticize the alleged victim's relatives for
seeking out the truth, accusing them of acting with political biases.
74.
The State reiterated the arguments presented in the ratione temporis objection and
alleged that, in the instant case, there had been a deprivation of life and not forced
disappearance. Therefore, the rights to juridical personality, life, humane treatment, and
personal liberty provided in Articles 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the American Convention do not constitute
a violation. To justify its position, it argued that the immediate death of Juan Carlos Flores
Bedregal has been fully proven, and this is why it cannot be considered that he was a victim
of forced disappearance. With regard to the obligation to make a guarantee, it stated that it
fulfilled its duty to investigate, since the facts relating to the disappearance of the remains of
the alleged victim from the Clinical Hospital (Hospital de Clínicas) were included in procedure
No. 6441/09.
B. Considerations of the Court
B.1. Forced disappearance of persons
75.
As can be seen in the Court's consistent case law, the forced disappearance of persons
constitutes a serious violation of human rights 102 consisting of three concurrent elements: (a)
deprivation of liberty; (b) the direct intervention of state agents or their acquiescence, and
(c) the refusal to acknowledge the detention and to reveal the fate or the whereabouts of the
person in question. 103 The Court has reiterated the permanent nature of the acts that
constitute forced disappearance while the victims’ whereabouts remain unknown or until their
remains are found, and the multiple violations of the rights recognized in the American
Convention, giving States the correlative duty to investigate such acts and, eventually, punish
those responsible, 104 pursuant to the obligations derived from that Convention and, in
particular, from articles I,II and III of the ICFDP, the latter of which expressly establishes
that the crime of forced disappearance will be considered as continuous or permanent until
the fate or whereabouts of the victim are determined. The characterization of forced
disappearance as a permanent and multiple violation of human rights 105 is consistent with the
Cf. Case of Goiburú et al. v. Paraguay. Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of September 22, 2006.
Series C No. 153, para. 114, and Case of Maidanik et al. v. Uruguay Merits and Reparations. Judgment of November
15, 2021. Series C No. 444, para. 112.
103
Cf. Case of Gómez Palomino v. Peru. Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of November 26, 2002.
Series C No. 136, para. 97, and Case of Movilla Galarcio et al. v. Colombia. Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment
of June 22, 2022. Series C No. 452, para. 119.
102
Cf. inter alia, Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Merits, supra, paras. 155-157, and Case of the
Village of Los Josefinos Massacre v. Guatemala. Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of
November 3, 2021. Series C No. 442, para. 69.
104
105
Cf. Case of Maidanik et al. v. Paraguay, supra, paras. 113 and 114. This characterization derives not only
from the definition in Article III of the ICCPF, but also from different international instruments. See, UN, Declaration
on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced disappearance, United Nations General Assembly. Resolution
47/133,18 December 1992, art. 1, 4 and 17, and UN. International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearance, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 20, 2006, arts. 2 and 8.
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