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then President Zelaya and for filing a complaint against the authorities who participated in the coup
d’état; and finally, iv) the proceedings against Judge Barrios were because of a newspaper editorial
written by someone else, citing the legal reasons that Judge Barrios had given in a lecture to explain why
the coup d’état was not a constitutional succession.
295. In the present case, the Commission has already concluded that the disciplinary
proceedings were instituted against the alleged victims against the backdrop of the coup d’état, and
their purpose was to silence the alleged victims’ criticism of the event. To do this, the State employed
laws riddled with ambiguity and imprecision. The authorities who presided over the disciplinary
apparatus did not afford the alleged victims the guarantees of competence, independence and
impartiality and conducted the proceedings without the necessary guarantees of due process. The
result of all this was that, in an abusive and arbitrary exercise of State power, the judges who were the
victims in this case were disciplined for actions that are permissible under the American Convention.
296. Given the circumstances, the Commission believes that subjecting the judges and
magistrate to disciplinary proceedings in retaliation for their criticism of the coup d’état in order to
dismiss them from office –which meant that they would lose their membership in the Associationconstitutes arbitrary interference on the part of the State calculated to restrict their exercise of their
political rights and their freedom of association, in violation of the rights protected under articles 16 and
23 of the American Convention, read in conjunction with Article 1(1) thereof and to the detriment of
Guillermo López Lone, Ramón Barrios, Luis Alonso Chévez de la Rocha and Tirza Flores Lanza.
E.
Personal integrity (Article 5 of the American Convention, read in conjunction with
Article 1 thereof)
297. Article 5(1) of the American Convention provides that “[e]very person has the right to
have his physical, mental, and moral integrity respected.”
298. The Commission observes that the petitioners’ allegations concern the material and
moral damages caused by the violations of the victims’ rights as a result of the disciplinary proceedings
instituted against them. Because those allegations allude to the effects of violations already established
by the Commission in this report, the Commission believes it does not have sufficient information to
consider a stand-alone violation caused by the actions or omissions that the State incurred against the
judges and magistrate. Nevertheless, the Commission considers that the State has a duty to redress the
consequences of the violations of the victims’ rights, among them the circumstances narrated by the
petitioners.
F.
Personal Liberty (Article 7 of the American Convention, read in conjunction with
Article 1 thereof)
299. The Commission takes as established fact that Judge Luis Alonso Chévez was deprived of
his liberty on August 12, 2009, by a member of the national police, because he was mistakenly identified
as being a demonstrator in one of the marches staged to protest the coup d’état. The arrest was made
without a court order and even though the victim was not apprehended in the commission of any crime.
According to the facts established, Judge Chévez was taken to a police station but was not advised of the
reasons for his arrest, was not entered into the log book and there was no judicial oversight of his arrest.
A writ of habeas corpus was issued ordering Judge Chévez’ immediate release. Given the circumstances