7
documentation as evidence to facilitate adjudication of the case. The representatives
and the Commission submitted the requested information on September 11 and 14,
2009, respectively. On October 2, 2009 the State submitted its observations on the
information presented by the representatives and the Commission as evidence to
facilitate adjudication of the case.
III
DETERMINATION OF THE ALLEGED VICTIMS
14.
The Court deems it appropriate to determine who must be considered alleged
victims in the present case.
15.
The Court notes that in paragraph seven of the application, the Commission
specified its purpose and identified 155 alleged victims of the case. Likewise, these
alleged victims were indicated in the Report on Admissibility and Merits No. 22/08. In
this regard, the Commission requested that the Court find and declare the State’s
international responsibility for the infringement of the rights enshrined in Articles 8
and 25 of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1). of that instrument, to
the detriment of the two survivors of the massacre and 153 next of kin of the
deceased in the massacre. Likewise, in the brief of pleadings and motions the
representatives submitted their own list of victims. On the other hand, in said brief
the representatives claimed additional alleged violations against those deceased
during the massacre (supra para. 3, subsections a), b), c), e), and f)), for which they
annexed the names of the deceased and the relationship to their next of kin. In this
regard, in the section on background and context on the case, in paragraph 96 of the
application, the Commission included a list with the names of the people who died in
the massacre.
16.
The Court verified that there were certain inconsistencies or differences with
regard to the names and characteristics of the persons included in the list of alleged
victims submitted by the Commission and that of the representatives; therefore on
several occasions they were requested to present information, clarifications, and
documentation. Once the information was received it was forwarded to the State,
which submitted its observations. With the information and supporting evidence
submitted by the parties, the different inconsistencies were clarified or corrected.
However, the Court considers it appropriate to refer to the situation regarding
Bernabé Cristales Montepeque and María Rebeca García Gómez, as well as the
situation of those deceased in the massacre.
17.
The Court notes that in paragraph 365 of the application the Commission
indicated that “[…] Mr. Bernabé Cristales Montepeque [and] Ms. María Rebeca García
Gómez […] have authorized the organizations […] ‘CEJIL’ and [...] ‘FAMDEGUA’, to
represent them in the judicial stage of the proceeding before the system;” however,
these individuals were not mentioned in the list of alleged victims contained in
aforementioned paragraph seven of the application, nor in Article 50 of the
Convention. Through the communications of the Secretariat of September 11, 2008
and September 3, 2009, the Commission was informed of this situation, and in the
last communication it was requested to make the necessary clarifications.
18.
In the communication of September 14, 2009 the Commission indicated that it
had transferred the powers of representation of both individuals based on the
“requirements contained in the Court’s Rules of Procedure[, however, it added that
this] does not constitute a determination of the capacity of these individuals as
victims, which the representatives and the Court must declare.” On the other hand,
the representatives indicated, in the communication of September 11, 2009, that
these individuals “must be considered [alleged] victims of the case and beneficiaries