64.
The Court would note, in this regard, that from the time the petitioners first submitted
their claim, they maintained that, after the hostage rescue operation had been completed, at
least three members of the MRT had been detained and summarily executed; their remains
had been hidden from their families to avert any judicial actions; the family members had not
been allowed to take part in the identification or autopsy of the bodies; the remains had been
buried in clandestine locations in several different cemeteries in the city of Lima; the military
courts had not served as an effective remedy to protect the rights of the alleged victims and
the members of their families, and the decision to partition the criminal investigation and
submit part of it to the military courts had facilitated impunity.48
65.
The Commission concluded in its Admissibility Report No. 13/04 that it had jurisdiction
to hear the merits of the case and that the petition was admissible with respect to the alleged
violations of the right to life, the right to judicial guarantees and the right to judicial protection,
established in the American Convention in Articles 4, 8 and 25, read in conjunction with Article
1(1), in injury of Eduardo Nicolás Cruz Sánchez, Herma Luz Meléndez Cueva and Víctor
Salomón Peceros Pedraza49. The Commission’s Admissibility Report also included a section
entitled “III. Positions of the parties,” containing the following arguments submitted by the
petitioners:
[…]
11. When the military rescue operation was over, the bodies were removed by military
prosecutors; representatives from the Attorney General’s Office were not permitted entry.
The corpses were not taken to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for the autopsy required
by law; in a highly irregular move, the bodies were taken instead to the morgue at the
Police Hospital. It was there that the autopsies would be performed. The autopsy reports
were kept secret until 2001. Next of kin of the deceased were not allowed to be present
for the identification of the bodies and the autopsies. The bodies were buried in secrecy
in various cemeteries throughout Lima. […]
30. The petitioners’ contention was that the proceedings in the military court system
cannot be an effective recourse for the protection of the rights of the victims and their
next of kin and for reparation of the damages caused. The military system of criminal
justice claimed jurisdiction over the case to protect those involved; hence, the military
court proceedings do not afford the minimum guarantees of independence and impartiality
required under Article 8(1) of the Convention.
[…]
66.
The petitioners, during the merits stage, repeatedly made reference to the alleged facts
and to the alleged injuries suffered by the families. 50 After April 23, 2008, the petitioners
Cf. Brief of the initial petition submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on February
19, 2003 (case file of the proceedings before the Commission, volume III, folios 1707 to 1716).
48
Cf. Admissibility Report No. 13/04 by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, February 27, 2004,
para. 3 (case file of the proceedings before the Commission, volume III, folio 1613).
49
Cf. Petitioners’ brief submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, June 1, 2004 (case file
of the proceeding before the Commission, volume III, folios 1589 to 1605); audio recording of the public hearing on
February 28, 2005, during the 122nd regular session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (evidence
file, volume II, annex 46 of the case submission brief, folio 1326); petitioners’ brief before the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights, April 23, 2008 (case file of the proceeding before the Commission, volume III, folios
1887 to 1932); petitioners’ brief submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, October 8, 2008
(case file of the proceeding before the Commission, volume III, folios 2363 to 2374); petitioners’ brief submitted to
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, December 10, 2009 (case file of the proceeding before the
Commission, volume IV, folios 2739 to 2743), and petitioners’ brief submitted to the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights, February 8, 2011 (case file of the proceeding before the Commission, volume IV, folios 2723 to 2725).
50