17
Panamanian health care system to provide specialized medical care to the next of kin
of Heliodoro Portugal;
(l)
Rolando Alberto Rodríguez Chong, witness proposed by the State, is a lawyer
and worked for the Attorney General’s Office from 1984 to 2005. He testified on the
actions of the Attorney General’s Office and his own efforts in the criminal
proceeding relating to the alleged disappearance and death of Heliodoro Portugal;
(m)
María Victoria González de Espinioza, witness proposed by the State, is the
Director of the Judiciary’s Publications and Editorial Department and testified on the
actions of the courts in relation to the proceeding opened in the Heliodoro Portugal
case;
(n)
Carlos Manuel Lee Vásquez, expert witness proposed by the representatives,
is a defense lawyer and was a consultant to the Panama Truth Commission. He gave
an opinion on the alleged general context of human rights violations during the
military regime in Panama, the actions taken by the administration of justice during
that period and to date in dealing with these cases, and the actions taken by the
administration of justice in the specific case of Heliodoro Portugal;
(o)
Freddy Armando Peccerelli, expert witness proposed by the representatives, is
the Executive Director of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala. He
gave an opinion on the scientific technology and tests used to examine and identify
the osseous remains, as well as his opinion on the procedure used in the recovery of
the remains found in the Las Pumas Barracks in Tocumen, and
(p)
Carlos Enrique Muñoz Pope, expert witness proposed by the State, is a lawyer
and full professor of criminal law of the Faculty of Law and Political Science of the
Universidad de Panama. He gave an opinion on the remedies available in the
Panamanian competence under criminal procedure; the development of the
preliminary proceedings and trial in criminal cases; the impact of the fundamental
guarantees of presumption of innocence and due process in the investigation and
prosecution of offenses; the development of the case opened in Panama on the
alleged disappearance and death of Heliodoro Portugal; the mechanism for appealing
before the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Panama for
compensation for damage resulting from de facto acts carried out by State officials,
and the right to property in Panama.
66.
During the public hearing in this case, the Court received the testimony of the
following witnesses and expert witnesses:28
(a)
Patria Portugal, witness proposed by the Inter-American Commission and the
representatives, is Heliodoro Portugal’s daughter, and she testified on the measures
taken by her family to discover the truth about what happened to her father; the
actions of the judicial authorities and the alleged obstacles that the family faced in
their search for justice; the discovery and identification of the remains of Heliodoro
Portugal; the consequences of Heliodoro Portugal’s alleged disappearance and the
alleged lack of justice on her personal life and that of her family; the State’s attitude
towards the recommendations of the Inter-American Commission and the presumed
consequences and impact that the alleged disappearance had on the Portugal family;
28
In its communication of January 24, 2008, the State informed the Court that it desisted from the offer of
the testimony of Heraclio Sanjur.