76 hearing “fit into” that string of violent activities; it also caused the judges on the court to copy, virtually verbatim, the very same reasoning the court had already used in judging the individual conduct on trial in an earlier criminal proceeding. Having assessed and classified the facts on the basis of prefabricated concepts about the context that surrounded them, and by having convicted the defendants on the basis of those biases, the Chilean judges violated the defendants’ right to an impartial judge, and in so doing violated Article 8(1) of the American Convention, to the detriment of Segundo Aniceto Norín Catrimán, Pascual Huentequeo Pichún Paillalao, Florencio Jaime Marileo Saravia, José Huenchunao Mariñán, Juan Patricio Marileo Saravia, Juan Ciriaco Millacheo Lican, Patricia Roxana Troncoso Robles and Víctor Manuel Ancalaf Llaupe. 5. The double jeopardy rule 284. The principle of non bis in idem, recognized in Article 8(4) of the American Convention, is one of the fundamental precepts of criminal law and a basic guarantee of the right to due process and a 264 fair trial. The Inter-American Court has described this principle as “intended to protect the rights of individuals who have been tried for specific facts from being subjected to a new trial for the same 265 cause.” The Court has observed that “one of the elements regulated by Article 8(4) is the conduct of a first trial that ends in a final decision of acquittal.” 266 285. The principle of non bis in idem is also recognized in Article 14(7) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states that “ No one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which he has already been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of each country.” 286. As the Human Rights Committee wrote, “Paragraph 7 [of Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights] prohibits double jeopardy and thus guarantees a substantive freedom, namely the right to remain free from being tried or punished again for an offence for which an individual has already 267 been finally convicted or acquitted.” Interpreting the scope of this guarantee, the Human Rights Committee has also written that [A]rticle 14, paragraph 7 of the Covenant, providing that no one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence of which they have already been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of each country, embodies the principle of ne bis in idem. This provision prohibits bringing a person, once convicted or acquitted of a certain offence, either before the same court again or before another tribunal again for the same offence; thus, for instance, someone acquitted by a civilian court cannot be tried again for the same offence by a 268 military or special tribunal. 287. One observation by the Committee has a particular bearing on this case, i.e., that “[t] he prohibition of article 14, paragraph 7, is not at issue if a higher court quashes a conviction and orders a retrial.” 269 270 . 264 IACHR, Report on Terrorism and Human Rights, OEA/SER.L/V/II.116, Doc. 5 rev. 1, corr., October 22, 2002, paragraph 218. 265 I/A Court H.R., Case of Loayza Tamayo, Judgment of September 17, 1997, Series C No. 33, paragraph 66. IACHR, Report on Terrorism and Human Rights, OEA/SER.L/V/II.116, Doc. 5 rev. 1, corr., October 22, 2002, paragraph 224. 266 I/A Court H.R., Case of Cantoral Benavides v. Peru, Judgment of August 18, 2000 (merits), Series C No. 69, paragraph 137. 267 Human Rights Committee, General Comment 32 –Article 14: Right to equality before courts and tribunals and to a fair trial. Doc. UN CCPR/C/GC/32, August 23, 2007, paragraph 3. 268 Human Rights Committee, General Comment 32 –Article 14: Right to equality before courts and tribunals and to a fair trial. Doc. UN CCPR/C/GC/32, August 23, 2007, paragraph 54. 269 270 Communication No. 277/1988, Terán Jijón v. Ecuador, paragraph 5.4. Human Rights Committee, General Comment 32 –Article 14: Right to equality before courts and tribunals and to a fair trial. Doc. UN CCPR/C/GC/32, August 23, 2007, paragraph 56.