Vera Valdez, both of whom shall be considered the beneficiaries of the
reparations ordered by this Tribunal.
B.
Obligation to ascertain the facts
B.1. Arguments of the parties
110. The Commission requested the Court to order the State to “carry out a
prompt, diligent, and effective investigation, so as to identify, prosecute, and
punish those responsible for the violations detailed in the […] application
[…].” Moreover, the representative asked the Court to order the State to carry
out “a complete and impartial investigation of the facts in order to punish
those persons responsible for the violations in the present case.” The State
did not formulate specific arguments in this regard.
B.2. Considerations of the Court
111. In its application, the Inter-American Commission noted that “[s]ince
the facts took place in April 1993 to date, no investigation or legal proceeding
aimed at ascertaining the circumstances of the gunshot received by Pedro
Miguel Vera Vera or the circumstances related to his death under State
custody has been initiated. Pursuant to Ecuadorian legislation, in the present
case, the statute of limitations has passed on the criminal action.”
112. As has been established by the Judgment (supra Chapter VII), on April
12, 1993, Mr. Vera Vera received a gunshot wound that caused him injuries,
he received negligent medical care, and lastly, he died on April 23, 1993, as a
consequence of both while in State custody (supra paras. 37). Likewise, from
the case file of the present case it is evident that on November 8, 1994, the
Inter-American Commission received from the CEDHU the corresponding
petition of the facts of the present case. On August 6, 2009, namely, almost
fifteen years later, the Inter-American Commission approved the Admissibility
and Merits Report 82/09, wherein it declared, specifically, the admissibility of
the case, analyzed the merits of the case, and formulated several
recommendations for the State. Approximately six months later, the InterAmerican Commission presented the respective application before the Court.
(supra para. 1). The Court deems that Article 101 of the Criminal Code in
force at the time of the facts establishes the period for the statute of
limitation of the criminal action to be 5, 10 and 15 years, depending on the
circumstances. In this sense, the Court notes that, in any case, pursuant to
the maximum period of 15 years, the statute of limitations lapsed on the
criminal action in this case in 2008, while in the admissibility stage before the
Inter-American Commission.122 In this regard, the expert witness Manuel
Ramiro Aguilar Torres (supra para. 20) noted that “any civil[,] criminal, or
administrative action to determine the cause of death of Mr. Pedro Miguel
122
Cf. “Pertinent parts of the Criminal Code of Ecuador applicable in the case” (case file of
annexes to the application, annex 22, folios 79 and 80).
43
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