from the country,” adopted through the National Criminal Court’s order of August 22,
2011. The representative alleged that this order was issued despite the State’s
knowledge that Ms. De La Cruz “[was] not in Peruvian territory,” as she was in Santiago,
Chile, receiving “medical care to treat the effects that the State’s actions have had on
her health.” Moreover, the representative informed the Court that after requesting a
postponement of the oral proceedings, the National Criminal Court issued an order on
December 14, 2011, whereby it established “March 30, 2012, at 9 a.m. as the date of
the oral proceedings,” and notified “the accused [,…] under warning of being found in
contempt of court and ordered arrested should she fail to appear.”
7.
The representative argued that:
a) the extreme gravity of the situation results from “these warrants for her
arrest and orders barring her exit from the country,” which “have caused Ms.
De La Cruz to undergo a serious emotional crisis that threatens her personal
integrity; for this reason, she is in critical condition, and her doctors have
recommended that her recovery process not be interrupted.” The
representative added that Ms. De La Cruz faces “other threats,” namely: (i) in
the event she does not appear at the hearing, “she could be tried in absentia
after being declared ‘in contempt of court,’” which “would limit her right to
defense” and the exercise of “the minimum judicial guarantees of every
defendant,” and (ii) in the event she appears at the hearing, the State could
"confiscate her passport,” and she could be “arrested and taken to prison for
having allegedly violated the order of the National Criminal Court of August
22, 2011, which barred her exit from the country.” Lastly, the representative
stated that there is "a threat to [her] personal freedom [...], which threatens
her personal integrity;”
b) the urgency of the situation is related to the fact that “the arrest warrant
and the order barring her exit from the country have already been issued by
the State,” and in this regard, if the victim were to enter into “Peruvian
territory to attend the hearing [...], she would not be able to return to Chile to
continue her medical treatment as long as her legal status remained
undefined, and should she fail to appear, she could be ordered arrested,” and
c) it is necessary to avoid irreparable damage, "given that barring [the
victim] from leaving the country or depriving her of her freedom,” would
“prevent her from receiving further medical treatment, with serious
consequences to her health and personal integrity, whose effects could be
irreversible.”
8.
For its part, the State asked that the representative’s request for provisional
measures be declared inadmissible considering that:
a) the request "lacks arguments demonstrating the existence of a situation of
extreme gravity and urgency, and there is no risk of irreparable damage."
This is demonstrated by the fact that the Special Criminal Court of the
Supreme Court of Justice declared the judgment convicting the petitioner and
sentencing her to 20 years in prison null and void;
b) “the State of Peru is not a threat to the [protection] of [human rights],”
and
c) “[i]f the petitioner disagrees for health reasons with the date established
for her to appear at the criminal trial against her, and believes that for health
reasons she cannot return to the country, it must be taken into consideration
3