41.
Likewise, the Court recalls in its Judgment that it stated:
in the substantiation of the claim […] the judicial authorities did not investigate the facts
diligently and the procedural burden fell for the most part on Mr. Bueno-Alves.
The role that the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Judge played was notoriously
passive. The judge only received the requests for evidence filed by the applicant, some
of which have not been upheld, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office has not made any
efforts to gather all the pieces of evidence which might be useful to establish the
truth of the facts. Likewise, no investigations were conducted regarding the claims made
by the victim reporting blows to the stomach and deprivation of medicines. On the other
hand, those persons identified as responsible for the blows inflicted upon Mr. BuenoAlves were not included in the early stages of the criminal process and instead
they were included long after the commencement of the process; and despite
the fact that Mr. Bueno-Alves reported the presence of a third person while he was
being beaten on the ears and the stomach, no efforts were made in order to
identify such person. In sum, the criminal proceeding did not contribute to the
identification or punishment of any person, it almost entirely depended on the activities
of the victim, and it did not provide reparation for the damages caused thereto. (bold
added).
42.
Moreover, it is necessary to recall that, in this case, the State “accept[ed] the
conclusions contained in [R]eport 26/05 adopted by the […] Commission […], as well
as the legal consequences deriv[ed] therefrom,” “ assuming [its] full responsibility in
the case.” 55 This is the manner in which, before the Court, the State expressly
promised to “make its best efforts to conclude, as soon as possible, the
investigations into the facts which caused damage to Mr. Bueno-Alves while he was
held in custody.” Similarly, the State also expressed that “[o]nce the circumstances
[of the facts of this case] have been clearly determine[d], […] the State may adopt
the appropriate measures so that the commission of the crimes does not go
unpunished, submitting those responsible for the […] denial of justice to the
pertinent and most effective administrative and judicial proceedings for the
fulfillment of such objective.” 56
43.
Given these manifestations made by the State, the Court considers that
classifying the facts as “duress” and not as acts of torture is contrary to the State’s
acknowledgment of international responsibility and the commitment adopted by the
State before the Court.
44.
On the other hand, while in its Judgment the Court noted that this
acknowledgment of responsibility constitutes “an important step towards the
development of this process [and] the enforcement of the principles enshrined in the
American Convention,”57 the Court considers that the acknowledgment supposes the
prompt and effective compliance of the provisions ordered therein. If State
authorities remain inactive without repairing the damage caused, the initial content
the provisions of Article 4 of the Convention, are weakened in the practical application of these provisions
by the judges, those of whom, as the Committee has proven in the examination of the background of a
significant number of cases, often prefer to prosecute for crimes of lesser severity, punishable by lesser
sentences, with diminished deterrent effect. [...] Committee against Torture, Report on the fifty-third
session, Supplement No. 44 (A/53/44), September 16, 1998.
55
Cf. Case of Bueno Alves V. Argentina, supra note 10, para. 22.
56
Cf. Case of Bueno Alves V. Argentina, supra note 10, para. 210.
57
Cf. Case of Bueno Alves V. Argentina, supra note 10, para. 34.
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