protected by its Article 13(1).149
111. In relation to the above, the Court has noted that, by expressly stipulating the right to seek
and receive information, Article 13 of the Convention protects the right of all individuals to request
access to State-held information, with the exceptions permitted by the restrictions established in
the Convention.150 Consequently, this Article protects the right of the individual to receive such
information and the positive obligation of the State to provide it, so that the individual may have
access to such information or receive an answer that includes a justification when, for any reason
permitted by the Convention, the State is allowed to restrict access to the information in a specific
case.151 The law also protects the two dimensions, individual and social, of the right to freedom of
thought and expression that must be guaranteed simultaneously by the State.152 In contexts of
forced disappearance, the right of access to information requires the active participation of all the
authorities involved. It is not enough to provide or allege the absence of information to guarantee
the right of access to information; rather, efforts to establish the whereabouts of the victim must
be exhausted.153
112. In this case, the State recognized the violation of Articles 8(1) and 25(1) of the Convention,
qualifying the actions aimed at investigating and sanctioning the material perpetrators of the
disappearance of Fredy Núñez Naranjo as being insufficient. As warned (supra, para. 25), there is
no dispute regarding such violation.
113. However, the State argued that Mr. Núñez Naranjo had been a victim of forced disappearance,
and, in this sense, the acknowledgment made did not refer to the immediate search efforts that
corresponded to the authorities, based on Articles 8(1) and 25(1) of the Convention, nor to the
alleged violation of the obligation to investigate, prosecute, and punish those responsible for the
forced disappearance, derived from Article I (b) of the IACFDP.
114. Given that it has been established that Fredy Núñez Naranjo was a victim of forced
disappearance, there is no doubt that the rights provided for in Articles 8(1) and 25(1) of the
American Convention, with respect to him and his family, include not only the investigation of what
happened and the punishment of those responsible; but also, the execution of diligent and
immediate search actions aimed at establishing the whereabouts of the victim and the consequent
guarantee of the right to the truth.
115. According to the proven facts (supra para. 47), the State issued two police reports on July
15, 2001, the day Mr. Núñez Naranjo was arrested and subsequently kidnapped. Three days later,
a police officer went to the community of Puñachizag, where he took a statement claiming that
Fredy Núñez allegedly escaped from the jail cell where he was being held (supra para. 48).
116. On August 15th, the statements of two police officers were received. One of them specifically
149
Cf. Case of Gomes Lund et al. ("Guerrilha do Araguaia") v. Brazil. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and
Costs. Judgment of November 24, 2010. Series C No. 219, supra, para. 200, and Case of Members and Militants of the
Patriotic Union v. Colombia,, supra, para. 479.
150
Cf. Case of Claude Reyes et al. v. Chile. Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of September 19, 2006. Series
C No. 151, para. 77, and Case of Flores Bedregal et al. v. Bolivia, supra, para. 132.
151
Cf. Case of Claude Reyes et al. v. Chile, supra, para. 77 and Case of Flores Bedregal et al. v. Bolivia, supra, para.
132.
152
Cf. Case of "The Last Temptation of Christ" (Olmedo Bustos et al.) v. Chile. Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment
of February 5, 2001. Series C No. 73, para. 67, and Case of Flores Bedregal et al. v. Bolivia, supra, para. 132.
153
Cf. Case of Flores Bedregal et al. v. Bolivia, supra, para. 136.
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