6
witnesses presented by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights:
Cronwell Pierre Castillo-Castillo;
Joe Roberto Ruiz-Huapaya;
María Elena Castro-Osorio;
Elba Minaya-Calle; and
Augusto Zúñiga-Paz;
expert presented by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights:
Dr. Enrique Bernales-Ballesteros.
The following witnesses and expert proposed by the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights did not appear at this hearing, notwithstanding the summons from the Court:
Luis Delgado-Aparicio;
Cecilia Valenzuela;
María Esther Aguirre-Vera;
Erika Katherine Vera de la Cruz; and
Dr. Francisco Eguiguren-Praeli.
29.
During this hearing, and by communication of February 12, 1997, the President
granted the parties a period of thirty days from the date of notification of the copy of the
transcripts of the public hearing to present their briefs of final arguments.
30.
The following paragraphs contain the Court's summary of the statements and expert
report heard at the seat of the Court:
a.
Testimony of Mr. Cronwell Pierre Castillo-Castillo, father of the victim
The witness stated that on the day his son was arrested he was wearing a lightcolored short-sleeved shirt, a pair of black jeans, a jacket that was beige on the
outside and dark blue on the inside, tobacco-colored moccasins and glasses; on
October 25, 1990 he went to the Villa El Salvador district and was told by
eyewitnesses that they recognized his son from the description and had witnessed
his arrest. Those witnesses told him that a patrol car stopped at a corner, two
policemen got out, made the young man raise his hands, removed his glasses,
searched him and placed him in the police vehicle, swearing at him the while; they
opened the trunk and made him get in. He further stated that another patrol car
approached and after an exchange of words the second vehicle drove off. The
witnesses told him that the policemen were wearing the red berets then worn by
members of the 33rd Radio Patrol Brigade and that they did not remember whether
his son had been handcuffed; that a number of witnesses were afraid to speak out
and that he too feared reprisals. From information obtained by Dr. Zúñiga-Paz, he
believed that his son was dead. The police had made contradictory reports to the
press: that his son had materialized, or that his body had been found. He had
unofficially ascertained that his son was taken to the headquarters of the 74th PNT
Brigade in San Juan de Miraflores, where the Magistrate found that the page of the
log for October 21 had been torn out, and that he was subsequently taken by
Commandant Mejía-León to the headquarters of the 29th Brigade next to the State
Palace, where he was interrogated, tortured and killed. He further testified that the
witnesses saw the police vehicle; that they were all of the same type and bore the