Mendoza […] acknowledged [its …] responsibility […] for not having ensured minimum
conditions for the security, safeguard and physical integrity of the inmates […].” 295
223. Hence, the Court considers that the State authorities had the obligation to follow up
on a logical line of investigation designed to determine the possible responsibilities of the
prison staff for the death of Ricardo Videla, since the omissions related to his detention
conditions and/or his state of depression could have contributed to this act. The State had
the obligation to disprove the possibility of the responsibility of its agents, taking into
account the measures that they should have adopted in order to safeguard the rights of a
person in its custody (supra paras. 188 to 190), and to collect the evidence that this
entailed.
224. In addition, this Court has affirmed that the proceedings of the disciplinary
jurisdiction may be assessed to the extent that they contribute to the clarification of the
facts and that its decisions are relevant as regards the symbolic value of the message of
censure that this type of sanction can convey within the State’s prisons. 296 Nevertheless,
given the nature of their competence, the purpose of these investigations is restricted to
merely determining the individual disciplinary responsibilities of State officials. 297 In this
regard, the determination of criminal and/or administrative responsibility each has its own
substantive and procedural rules. Consequently, the failure to determine criminal
responsibility should not prevent the continuation of the investigation into other types of
responsibilities, such as administrative responsibilities.
225. Now, regarding the administrative case file opened as a result of the death of Ricardo
David Videla Fernandez, this Court has already established that, on May 17, 2006, the
investigating judge requested the General Inspectorate of Security of the province of
Mendoza to archive the proceedings because, prima facie, there was no indication that any
prison staff were “involved” in this incident and because no member of the staff had been
accused “judicially.” 298 It should be noted that, in this regard, the investigating judge who
requested that the administrative case file be archived had access to the judicial file and the
psychological and psychiatric history of inmate Videla Fernandez (supra para. 125). 299
Nevertheless, he also failed to investigate whether there were any omissions relating to the
conditions in which the inmate was being held in or whether his mental state could have had
a bearing on his death.
226. Last, this Court considers it pertinent to indicate that, under the said friendly
settlement agreement signed on August 28, 2007, the “the government of the province of
Mendoza undert[ook] to take all the necessary measures, within its sphere of competence,
to continue the investigations into all the human rights violations that resulted in the issue
of the provisional measures ordered by the [Inter-American] Court” 300 in the matter of the
295
Cf. Arbitral award of November 29, 2010 (file of annexes to the pleadings and motions brief, folios 7662 to
7681). In addition, the Court ad hoc indicated that the body of the youth Videla “showed signs of violence” at the
time of his death and that “death occurred by hanging.”
296
Cf. Case of the Pueblo Bello Massacre v. Colombia. Judgment of January 31, 2006. Series C No. 140, para.
203, and Case of the Ituango Massacres v. Colombia. Judgment of July 1, 2006 Series C No. 148 para. 327.
297
Cf. Case of the Ituango Massacres v. Colombia, para. 327.
298
Cf. Report of the investigating judge in administrative file 7808/01/05/00105/E of May 17, 2006 (file of
annexes to the submission of the case, tome X, folio 5546).
299
Cf. Report of the investigating judge in administrative file 7808/01/05/00105/E of May 17, 2006 (file of
annexes to the submission of the case, tome X, folio 5545).
300
Cf. Decree No. 2740 of the Governor of the province of Mendoza, annex to the decree, paragraph B.2.b),
B.O. No. 28,260 of the province of Mendoza, November 17, 2008 (merits file, tome II, folio 922).
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