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vehicle without license plates.
According to some neighbors, his house had been under
surveillance, presumably by government agents, for some days before his disappearance.
4.
After transmitting the relevant parts of the petition to the Government, the Commission,
on various occasions, requested information on the matter. Since the Commission received no
reply, it applied Article 42 (formerly 39) of its Regulations and presumed "as true the allegations
contained in the communication of October 9, 1982 concerning the detention and possible
disappearance of Saúl Godínez in the Republic of Honduras" and pointed out to the Government
that "such acts are most serious violations of the right to life (Art. 4) and the right of personal
liberty (Art. 7) of the American Convention" (Resolution 32/83 of October 4, 1983).
5.
On December 1, 1983, the Government requested reconsideration of Resolution 32/83 on
the grounds that a writ of habeas corpus (exhibición personal), brought on behalf of Saúl Godínez
Gómez on August 17, 1982, had been denied because the applicant did not complete the
procedure in a timely fashion and that another writ, brought on behalf of Saúl Godínez Cruz and
others on July 4, 1983, was still pending on the date that the Government requested the
reconsideration. The Government also included information received from security officials on the
impossibility of determining the whereabouts of Saúl Godínez Cruz.
6.
According to the documents presented to the Court by the Commission, the petitioner, on
February 15, 1984, admitted that the writ of habeas corpus filed on August 17, 1982 had not
been pursued "because they denied holding anybody by the name of Saúl Godínez Gómez and the
investigating judge fell for that trick."
7.
The Commission also alleged that a prisoner claimed to have seen Saúl Godínez in the
Central Penitentiary of Tegucigalpa at the end of June of 1983.
8.
On May 29, 1984, the Commission informed the Government that it had decided "to
reconsider Resolution 32/83 and to continue the study of the case" and requested information on
the exhaustion of domestic legal remedies and other matters relevant to the case.
The
Commission reiterated this request on January 29, 1985.
9.
On March 1, 1985, the Government asked the Commission to postpone a final decision on
this case because it had set up an Investigatory Commission to study the matter.
The
Commission agreed to the Government's request on March 11, granting it thirty days in which to
present the information requested.
10.
On October 17, 1985, the Government presented to the Commission the Report of the
Investigatory Commission.
11.
On April 7, 1986, the Government informed the Commission that "notwithstanding the
efforts of the Investigatory Commission . . . no new evidence has been discovered." It also
pointed out that "the information at hand contains no convincing evidence on which to rule on the
alleged disappearances with absolute certainty" and that it was impossible "to identify the persons
allegedly responsible."
12.
By Resolution 24/86 of April 18, 1986, the Commission decided that the request for
reconsideration of its Resolution 32/83 "is unfounded and lacks information other than that
already examined." In that same Resolution, the Commission confirmed Resolution 32/83 and
referred the matter to the Court.
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