ex oficio, the corresponding authorities should institute criminal proceedings by indictment, in accordance with Article 15 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.106 The expert said that even without a formal complaint by the family of Mr. Vera Vera, various authorities learned that Mr. Vera Vera had been shot, and also that he had died, so the lack of a complaint was not an obstacle for the State to initiate the corresponding ex oficio investigation. 93. In this regard, the Court recalls that the purpose of its mandate is the implementation of the American Convention and other treaties that confer jurisdiction. It is not up to this Court to determine individual responsibility,107 whose determination is up to the domestic criminal courts or other international tribunals, but rather to recognize the facts brought to its knowledge and to characterize them in the exercise of its contentious jurisdiction, according to the evidence presented by the parties. 108 Likewise, this Court has held that the obligation to investigate the facts, prosecute, and where appropriate, punish those responsible for a crime that constitutes a violation of human rights, is a commitment that stems from the American Convention, and that criminal responsibility must be determined by the b) The abduction of a woman over sixteen and under eighteen, who had consented to her abduction and voluntarily followed the abductor; c) Defamatory libel and non-defamatory slander; d) Damage caused to forests, woodlands or gardens of private ownership by cutting, stripping or destruction of trees, impacting the river, canal, stream, pond, cheering or tanks and destroying the aqueducts, dams, bridges or private property dams, and throwing substances to destroy fish and species, those caused by death or wounds and injuries to horses and other pets and domesticated animals; thoe caused by the destruction of fences or enclosures of any kind whatever; suppression or change of boundaries, and blinding of trenches and, e) all other crimes of theft not mentioned in the previous paragraph. 106 This provision established (case file of Merits, tomo II, folios 1047 and 1048): Art. 15 .- Except for cases provided for in Article 428 of this Code, the exercise of public prosecution is initiated by indictment, and its background can be the following: 1 .- The investigation, that ex oficio,is carried out by a competent judge or court; 2 .- The prosecutorial initiative; 3 .- The complaint; 4 .- The private accusation; 5 .- The police report or police investigation and, 6 .- The higher order by the authorities. 107 Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez V. Honduras, supra note 11, para. 134; Case of Rosendo Cantú and otra V. México, supra note 17, para. 105, and Case of Ibsen Cárdenas and Ibsen Peña V. Bolivia, supra note 94, para. 199. 108 Cf. Case of Cantoral Huamaní and García Santa Cruz V. Perú. Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of July 10, 2007. Series C No. 167, para. 87; Case of Fernández Ortega et al. V. México. Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of August 30, 2010. Series C No. 215, para. 103, and Case of Ibsen Cárdenas and Ibsen Peña V. Bolivia, supra note 94, para. 199. 38