27
81.
In the brief containing its final arguments, the Commission maintained
that Guatemala had violated the right to personal liberty to the detriment of Mr.
Nicholas Blake, and that the violation continued until 1992, when he ceased to be
disappeared.
*
*
*
82.
The Court points out that Mr. Nicholas Blake's detention, which led to his
forced disappearance, was an act concluded on March 28 or 29, 1985, that is,
before the date on which Guatemala accepted the jurisdiction of the Court.
Inasmuch as the Court, in its July 2, 1996 judgment on preliminary objections,
decided that it was only competent to decide on the effects and actions that
occurred after the date on which Guatemala recognized its jurisdiction (March 9,
1987), it pronounces itself incompetent to decide on Mr. Nicholas Blake's
detention pursuant to Article 7 of the American Convention.
XI
CONCERNING ARTICLE 4
83.
With regard to the right to life, the Commission claimed that Mr. Nicholas
Blake was a disappeared person from the time of his arrest by the El Llano Civil
Patrol on March 28, 1985 until June 14, 1992, the date on which his remains
were found. It also pointed out that Guatemala officially recognized Mr. Nicholas
Blake's death on March 29, 1985, according to the certificate issued by the
Registrar General of the Villa de Chiantla in the Department of Huehuetenango.
According to the Commission, the State is responsible for Mr. Nicholas Blake's
death, owing to the fact that
the Commander of the El Llano Civil-Defense Patrol twice consulted the Las Majadas
garrison before having the journalists escorted and his instruction was that "you can
kill them if you wish" is consistent with the Army's practice of having the patrol act as
a strong-arm force and subsequently attributing to them responsibility for abuses in
order to avoid international criticism of the Army.
84.
According to the State's the answer to the application, Mr. Nicholas Blake's
death was the result of a finite common crime, which cannot be imputed to the
State and does not constitute a forced disappearance. It added that the arrest of
Mr. Nicholas Blake and Mr. Griffith Davis, their transfer to an isolated spot to be
murdered, and the concealment of their bodies to hide material evidence are
typical of a common crime such as aggravated homicide or murder, and not the
violation of human rights like the rights to life and personal liberty protected by
the Convention, nor a violation of the general obligation of States under the
Convention to respect the human rights recognized therein.
*
*
*
85.
This Court observes that, as shown in the above narration of proven acts,
(supra, 52. (a) and (b)), there were two people who disappeared in the same
circumstances, Mr. Nicholas Blake and Mr. Griffith Davis. Given that the remains
of two people were found and that those of Mr. Griffith Davis were identified
before Mr. Nicholas Blake’s, the Court is surprised that the Commission did not
use its authority to include Mr. Griffith Davis as an alleged victim in the
application. Moreover, at the public hearing held before this Court on April 17,
1997, the Commission, in reply to a question from Judge Cançado Trindade,
merely declared that Mr. Griffith Davis' relatives had not shown any interest in