A.
Documentary, testimonial and expert evidence
31.
The Court received various documents presented as evidence by the Commission, the
representative, and the State, attached to their main briefs (supra paras. 4 to 11). The Court
also received the affidavits prepared by the witnesses Dennis Cerezo Cervantes, Rodolfo
Sánchez Jiménez and Luis Humberto Córdova Ramos, and the expert witnesses Hugo Miguel
Morán Sánchez, Verónica Valencia and Jaysoon Abarca. As for the evidence provided during
the public hearing, the Court listened to the statement of the presumed victim Melba Suárez
Peralta and the expert opinion of Laura Pautassi (supra para. 9).
B.
Admission of the evidence
1. Admission of the documentary evidence
32.
In this case, as in others, the Court admits those documents forwarded by the
parties at the appropriate procedural opportunity (supra paras. 4 to 11), which were not
contested or opposed and the authenticity of which was not questioned. 19 The documents
requested by the Court at the public hearing, which were subsequently provided by the
parties, are incorporated into the body of evidence in application of Article 58 of the Rules of
Procedure.
33.
With regard to the newspaper articles and videos presented by the parties and the
Commission together with their different briefs, the Court has considered that these may be
assessed when they refer to well-known public facts or declarations by State officials, or
when they corroborate aspects related to the case. Consequently, it decides to admit the
documents that are complete or that, at least, allow their source and date of publication to
be verified, and will assess them taking into account the entire body of evidence, the
observations of the parties, and the rules of sound judicial discretion. 20
34.
In addition, the Court observes that the representative did not provide the affidavits
of the witness Eduardo Tigua Castro or the expert witnesses Ignacio Hanna Musse and Iván
Castro Patiño, which were offered by the representative of the presumed victims and
requested in the Order of the President of December 20, 2012. 21
35.
In relation to the documents provided with the final written arguments, the State
requested the exclusion of evidence provided by the representative because it was not
presented at the proper procedural moment. In this regard, the Court observes that, in
particular, the representative forwarded a sworn statement by Moisés Daniel Arguello
Bermeo, which had not been requested as useful evidence by a judge or the Court during
the public hearing of the case. Therefore, pursuant to Article 57 of its Rules of Procedure,
the Court declares inadmissible the presentation of this evidence by the representative,
because it was not provided at the appropriate procedural moment.
2. Admission of the statements of the presumed victim and of an expert
witness
19
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Merits. Judgment of July 29, 1988. Series C No. 4, para.
140, and Case of the Massacre of Santo Domingo, supra, para. 43.
20
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez, Merits, supra, para. 146, and Case of the Massacre of Santo Domingo,
supra, para. 44.
21
Cf. Case of Suárez Peralta v. Ecuador. Order of the President of the Court of December 20, 2012, supra.
11