35.
Based on the above, the Court rejects the preliminary objection filed by the State and,
hence, is competent to examine and rule on the alleged violations of the Inter-American
Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, as of March 15, 2002, the date that it entered
into force for Peru.
V
EVIDENCE
36.
Based on the provisions of Articles 46, 47, 50, 57 and 58 of the Rules of Procedure, as well
as on its case law with regard to evidence and its assessment, 39 the Court will examine and assess
the documentary evidence forwarded by the parties at different procedural opportunities, and the
statements, testimony and expert opinions provided by affidavit and during the public hearing. To
this end it will abide by the principles of sound judicial discretion, within the corresponding legal
framework. 40
A.
Documentary, testimonial and expert evidence
37.
The Court has received different documents presented as evidence by the State, the
representatives, and the Inter-American Commission, and attached to their main briefs. In
addition, the Court has received the affidavits prepared by Santa Fe Gaitán Calderón, Silvia Osorio
Rivera, Edith Laritza Osorio Gaytán and Aquiles Román Atencio. It has also received the opinions of
expert witnesses Carlos Alberto Jibaja Zárate and Esteban Segundo Abad Agurto. During the public
hearing, the Court received the audiovisual testimony of the witness Simeón Retuerto Roque, and
the testimony of the presumed victim Porfirio Osorio Rivera, as well as the opinion of expert
witness Avelino Trifón Guillén Jáuregui.
B.
Admission of the evidence
B.1. Admission of the documentary evidence
38.
In this case, as in others, the Court accepts the probative value of those documents
presented by the parties and the Commission at the proper procedural opportunity that were not
contested or opposed, and the authenticity of which was not challenged. 41
39.
Regarding some documents indicated by electronic links, the Court has established that if a
party provides at least the direct electronic link to the document that it cites as evidence and it can
be accessed, neither legal certainty nor procedural balance is affected because it can be located
39
Cf. Case of the “White Van” (Paniagua Morales et al.) v. Guatemala. Merits. Judgment of March 8, 1998. Series C
No. 37, paras. 69 to 76, and Case of Luna López v. Honduras. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of October 10, 2013.
Series C No. 269, para. 10.
40
Cf. Case of the “White Van” (Paniagua Morales et al.) v. Guatemala. Merits, supra, para. 76, and Case of Luna
López v. Honduras, supra, para. 10.
41
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Merits, supra, para. 140, and Case of Luna López v. Honduras,
supra, para. 12.
16