both offenses and against all three accused, ordering that the case be closed. 276 The judge
based his decision on the following: (i) the statements of the presumed victim were not valid
evidence because they lacked credibility and plausibility; (ii) the lack of immediacy of the
medical examination and the expert appraisals that were performed, and (iii) the consistent
and categorical rejection by the accused of the charges of rape and abuse of authority. 277
210. The judge indicated that the presumed victim’s version of the events was not credible
because one of the accused was an important witness in the criminal proceedings underway
against one of her brothers.278
211. This Court observes that this consideration reveals that the complaint of rape was
automatically considered false on the basis of the procedural situation of the presumed victim’s
brother. This was a discretionary and discriminatory criterion that presumed the bad faith of
Ms. Rojas Marín when filing the complaint.
212. The dismissal decision also emphasized that “the aggrieved party has not been
consistent in her statement regarding the facts.” Among the alleged incongruencies, the judge
included the fact that:
In [her] complaint in the printed, spoken and televised media, [she] never mentioned that
[she] had been subjected to rape, a fact that only recently arose in her version of the events
when answering [a question] by the representative of the Public Prosecution Service [in the
statement of February 28]; therefore, her words lacked spontaneity, uniformity and
consistency in this regard.279
213. This Court recalls that the mention of some of the ill-treatment only in some statements
does not mean that these are false or that the facts narrated are not true. 280 Also, when
examining the said statements, it should be taken into account that sexual aggressions are a
type of offense that victims do not usually report owing to the stigma that a complaint of this
type may involve.281 Thus, the Court notes that is it unreasonable to expect that the presumed
victim would report such facts in the media and in all the statements she made on what
occurred.
214. The judge also considered it incongruent that the presumed victim, “on February 25,
after resting and having lunch, resumed [her] usual work (feeding the pigs, cleaning out the
pigsties, visiting friends, the media), activities which required considerable physical energy
and using motorcycle taxis to move around, as [she herself] states; and [she] would have
been unable to do this in the painful condition that [she] described following the supposed
sexual abuse.”282
Cf. Order to dismiss the proceedings issued by the Ascope First Preliminary Investigation Court of January 9,
2009 (evidence file, folios 2969 and 2970).
276
Cf. Order to dismiss the proceedings issued by the Ascope First Preliminary Investigation Court of January 9,
2009 (evidence file, folios 2961, 2962 and 2963).
277
Cf. Order to dismiss the proceedings issued by the Ascope First Preliminary Investigation Court of January 9,
2009 (evidence file, folio 2960).
278
Cf. Order to dismiss the proceedings issued by the Ascope First Preliminary Investigation Court of January 9,
2009 (evidence file, folio 2960).
279
Cf. Case of Cabrera García and Montiel Flores v. Mexico. Preliminary objection, merits, reparations and costs,
supra, para. 113, and Case of J. v. Peru. Preliminary objection, merits, reparations and costs, supra, para. 325.
280
Cf. Case of Rosendo Cantú et al. v. Mexico. Preliminary objection, merits, reparations and costs, supra, para.
95, and Case of Favela Nova Brasília v. Brazil. Preliminary objections, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of
February 16, 2017. Series C No. 333, para. 248.
281
Cf. Order to dismiss the proceedings issued by the Ascope First Preliminary Investigation Court of January 9,
2009 (evidence file, folio 2960).
282
56