23
accompanied by her elder daughters and by Mrs. Conislla-Cárdenas (infra paras.
54.23 and 54.27).
54.11. On August 3, 1992, with the support of Mr. Francisco Soberón-Garrido, on
behalf of Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH) (Pro Human Rights
Association), Mrs. Victoria Margarita Palomino-Buitrón lodged a complaint about the
forced disappearance of her son to the Fiscalía Suprema de Derechos Humanos
(Office of the Supreme Prosecutor for Human Rights) and to the Fiscalía General de
la Nación (Office of the National Prosecutor General). However, she did not manage
to obtain information on Mr. Gómez-Palomino’s whereabouts.
54.12. A few days after filing the reports, on August 7, 1992, the Government
passed Decree-Law No. 25,659, which barred issuing habeas corpus writs in
connection with detainees, suspects or individuals involved with crimes of terrorism
or high treason. This situation remained effective until November 25, 1993, when
habeas corpus writs became available once more pursuant to Law No. 26,248.
54.13. The Séptima Fiscalía Provincial Penal de Lima (Office of the Provincial
Criminal Prosecutor Number Seven) started an inquiry based on the complaint about
the forced disappearance of Mr. Gómez-Palomino (supra para. 54.11). Mrs. Victoria
Margarita Palomino-Buitrón was subpoenaed to appear in court and make her
preliminary examination statement on June 11, 1993. There is no record of whether
Mrs. Victoria Margarita Palomino-Buitrón actually appeared in court to make her
statement. She remembers having gone to the Office of the Prosecutor on several
occasion and always being told that she “should wait and come back” on the
following day, so she decided to stop going there “for information”. This inquiry did
not yield any results.
54.14. In 2001, during the Government for the transition towards democracy of
President Valentín Paniagua, investigation of the massacres (and other serious acts)
attributed to the “Colina Group” were re-opened. Within the context of these
investigations, a former member of the group, Mr. Julio Chuqui Aguirre, included,
among the crimes committed by the unit, the disappearance of the “evangelist”,
whose description matched that of Mr. Santiago Gómez-Palomino.
54.15. These statements gave rise to an inquiry by the Fiscalía Provincial
Escpecializada de Lima (Office of the Specialized Provincial Prosecutor of Lima). In
the course of such inquiry, a statement was obtained from one of the members of
the “Colina Group,” collaborator 371-MCS, who had relied on the provisions of the
law on efficient collaboration, wherein he told how the “evangelist” had been
abducted and murdered, and he mentioned the possible location of the victim’s
remains. According to the preliminary examination statement made by collaborator
371-MCS on December 6, 2001, the “Colina Group” was responsible for the
disappearance of Mr. Santiago Gómez-Palomino. In such statement, the deponent
admitted his personal and direct involvement in the abduction and execution of the
victim:
[o]ne day in the month of July or August of the year ninety-three (sic), I do not
remember exactly, but it was at about 11 p.m. some members of the Colina Group,
including Coral Coicochea, Chuqui Aguirre, Gamarra Mamani, José Alarcón, Ortíz
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