B) Considerations of the Court
128. The Court recalls that, from the start of the victim’s forced disappearance, numerous
applications for habeas corpus were filed and different proceedings have been conducted in
order to clarify what happened to Edgar Fernando García. Following the acceptance of the
Court’s jurisdiction, the events were reported to the PDH, three applications for habeas
corpus were filed, and a special investigation procedure was undertaken by the PDH before
the Supreme Court of Justice. In 2009, after the discovery of the Historical Archive of the
National Police, the Public Prosecution Service formally charged two perpetrators of the
disappearance of Edgar Fernando García, and they were sentenced and convicted in October
2010, in a judgment that is now final. Furthermore, based on the information that appeared
in the Historical Archive of the National Police, two other individuals indicated as presumed
perpetrators were identified, and they have been fugitives from justice since 2009. 189 Also,
another two individuals who have been identified as presumed masterminds, are currently
being prosecuted, 190 although the Court is unaware of the exact status of these
proceedings.
129. The Court recalls that, based on the protection granted by Articles 8 and 25 of the
Convention, States are obliged to provide effective judicial remedies to the victims of
human rights violations, which must be substantiated in accordance with the rules of due
process of law. 191 Furthermore, the Court has indicated that the right of access to justice
must ensure, within a reasonable time, the right of the presumed victims or their family
members that everything necessary is done to discover the truth of what happened and to
punish those responsible. 192
130. The obligation to investigate human rights violations is one of the positive measures
that States must adopt in order to guarantee the rights recognized in the Convention. 193 In
addition, it is pertinent to recall that the systematic practice of forced disappearance entails
a disregard of the obligation to organize the State apparatus so as to ensure the rights
recognized in the Convention, which reproduces the conditions of impunity so that this type
of event is repeated. 194 Hence the importance that the State take all necessary measures to
investigate and, as appropriate, punish those responsible; to establish the truth of what
happened; to locate the whereabouts of the victims and to inform the family members, and
to provide the latter with fair and adequate reparation, as appropriate. 195
189
Cf. Affidavit prepared by Manuel Giovanni Vásquez Vicente on March 11, 2012 (merits file, tome II, folios
792, 793 and 795), and affidavit prepared by Alejandra García Montenegro on April 20, 2012 (merits file, tome II,
folio 807).
190
According to witness Manuel Giovanni Vásquez Vicente the “Director General of the National Police and the
[the] Commander General of the Fourth Unit of the National Police [at the time] are awaiting their oral and public
trial,” because they presumably “participated, since they were part of the chain of command.” Affidavit prepared by
Manuel Giovanni Vásquez Vicente on March 11, 2012 (merits file, tome II, folio 795).
191
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Preliminary objections. Judgment of June 26, 1987. Series C
No. 1, para. 91, and Case of the Massacres of El Mozote and nearby places v. El Salvador, supra, para. 242.
192
Cf. Case of Bulacio v. Argentina. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of September 18, 2003. Series C
No. 100, para. 114, and Case of the Massacres of El Mozote and nearby places v. El Salvador, supra, para. 242.
193
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Merits, supra, paras. 166 and 167, and Case of the
Massacres of El Mozote and nearby places v. El Salvador, supra, para. 243.
194
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez. Merits, supra, para. 158, and Case of Contreras et al. v. El Salvador,
supra, para. 126.
195
Cf. Case of Goiburú et al. v. Paraguay, supra, para. 89, and Case of Contreras et al. v. El Salvador, supra,
para. 126.
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