103. With respect to those rights, the State has the obligations set out in Article 1(1)
of the Convention to respect and guarantee their exercise. In addition, Article 2 of the
Convention obligates the States Parties to adopt, in accordance with the provisions of its
Constitution and those of the Convention, the legislative or other measures that are
necessary to give effect to the rights and liberties protected by the treaty. 125 That
obligation implies the adoption of measures in two senses. On the one hand, the
elimination of any norms and practices that would lead to a violation of the guarantees
established in the Convention,126 either because they ignore those rights or liberties or
because they obstruct their exercise.127 On the other hand, the duty to issue norms and
the development of practices that lead to the effective observance of such guarantees. 128
104. On the basis of the foregoing, and in the more specific guidelines that will be
expressed later, the Court will analyze the facts in the case and the allegations of the
parties and the Commission. It will examine: i) the lawfulness of the initial detentions of
the alleged victims; ii) whether the preventive deprivations of liberty to which those
persons were submitted were arbitrary and affected the presumption of innocence, and
iii) the right to appeal the detention. The Court will then offer its conclusion.
B.1 Initial detentions
105.
The facts of the case demonstrate that:
a) Belkis and María Angélica González were detained on November 23, 1998 in their
home by means of a decision adopted by police authorities, based on their
presumption that the detainees had been involved in an unlawful act, the homicide of
Mrs. C.F.;
b) Fernando González was detained the same day by police authorities, when he went
to the police station with a vehicle mentioned in the events to which his daughters
were linked, and
c) Wilmer Antonio Barliza González, Luis Guillermo González and Olimpiades González
were detained on January 28, 1999 after an exchange of shots by the police, who
arrived at a residence where they found them and also two firearms that the
authorities thought to be related to the investigations into the homicide of C.F.,
believing also that there existed evidence to presume the participation of the three
detainees in that criminal act (supra paras. 48 and 49).
106. The police stated that they based the detentions described in sections a) and c)
of the previous paragraph on Article 45 of the Law of Amparo and on Article 75 of the
CCP and the section b) to Articles 71 and 75 G of the CCP (supra paras. 30, 31, 36 and
Cf. Caso Gangaram Panday v. Suriname, para. 50 and Case of Villarroel Merino et al. v. Ecuador,
para. 142.
125
Cf. Case of Castillo Petruzzi et al. v. Peru. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of May 30, 1999.
Series C No. 52, para. 207 and Case of the Buzos Miskitos (Lemoth Morris et al.) v. Honduras. Judgment of
August 31, 2021. Series C No. 432, para. 45.
126
Cf. Hilaire, Constantine and Benjamin et al. v. Trinidad and Tobago. Merits, Reparations and Costs.
Judgment of June 21, 2002. Series C No. 94, para. 113 and Case of the Buzos Miskitos (Lemoth Morris et al.)
v. Honduras, para. 45.
127
Cf. Case of Castillo Petruzzi et al. v. Peru, para. 207 and Case of the Buzos Miskitos (Lemoth Morris
et al.) v. Honduras, para. 45.
128
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