58
as every individual has human rights, so must any [alleged] violation of those rights
be examined on an equally individual basis.”53
107. In its jurisdictional function, and pursuant to Article 62 of the American
Convention, the Court has jurisdiction over “all cases concerning the interpretation
and application of the provisions of this Convention” for the purpose of establishing
the international responsibility of a State party to the Convention for alleged
violations of the human rights of persons subject to its jurisdiction. Hence, the Court
deems that proper identification, by name, of the person whose right or freedom is
alleged to have been breached is essential.
108. This identification requirement is different from the one applied in the case of
provisional measures for preventive purposes, where the Court is authorized to order
special measures of protection in cases of extreme gravity and urgency, when
necessary to avoid irreparable damage to persons in response to some threat or
possible violation of some right of the American Convention and on the
understanding that the merits of the matter are not being judged. In such cases, the
beneficiaries of the measures need only be “identifiable” for purposes of affording
them those special measures of protection.54
109. In view of the foregoing, and in order to guarantee the effet utile of Article 23
of the Rules of Procedure and effective protection of the rights of the alleged victims,
the latter must be properly identified and named in the application that the InterAmerican Commission files with this Court.
110. In its June 21, 2002 order, the Court resolved, inter alia, to request the
Commission, within three months’ time, to identify, by name, the “children and
adolescents interned at the ‘Panchito López’ Juvenile Reeducation Institute between
August 1996 and July 2001, and thereafter sent to adult prisons in Paraguay.” In
that order, it notified the Commission that if the list was not sent, the case would
continue to be processed, but only regarding to the alleged victims identified in the
application.
111. On September 19, 2002, which was within the three-month time period the
Court set in the aforementioned order, the Commission sent the Secretariat a list of
the alleged victims (supra para. 34), which was the very same list that the State
itself had supplied to the Commission. On November 19, 2002, by which time the
three-month period had expired, the Commission sent the Secretariat a “combined
chart” (supra para. 36).
On both occasions, in observance of the right of defense
and in keeping with the adversarial action principle, all documentation was forwarded
to the State; the latter, however, filed no objection or even any comment with
regard to the two lists. With that the problem posed by the fact that the identity of
some of the alleged victims was either unknown or not given was corrected; as a
consequence, the Court proceeded to take cognizance of the case in respect of the
53
Case of Durand and Ugarte, Preliminary Objections. Judgment of May 28, 1999. Series C No. 50,
para. 48.
54
Cf. Article 63(2) of the American Convention; Case of Carlos Nieto et al.. Provisional Measures.
Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, July 9, 2004, second paragraph under ‘Considering’;
Matter of Urso Branco Prison. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
of July 7, 2004, second paragraph under ‘Considering’; and the Case of the “El Nacional” and “Así es la
Noticia” Newspapers. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of July 6,
2004, second paragraph under ‘Considering’.
Seleccionar párrafo de destino3
Conectar a un párrafo
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Añadir a la tabla de contenidos