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kidnapping, and that there is no explanation of what happened, since there is neither proof nor a
precise indication of the individuals who planned or carried out the acts.
120. The Commission submitted a photocopy of an alleged declaration of Francisco Berríos, who
stated that he had been captured on May 19, 1983 and transferred to the Central Penitentiary of
Tegucigalpa on June 27, where, among other prisoners, he met Saúl Godínez. Mr. Berríos
declared that Godínez had told him that he had been detained on the outskirts of Choluteca from
where he was coming on motorcycle and that he was subsequently taken to an enclosed house
constructed of concrete in Támara, where he was blindfolded and tortured, and was later
transferred to the DNI cells in Tegucigalpa.
121. Among the documents that the Commission presented to the Court is a note dated
December 1, 1983, with which the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Honduras forwarded written
statements of Víctor Manuel Meza Argueta, Ciriaco Castillo García, Police Sergeant Félix Pedro
García Rodríguez and Major Juan Blas Salazar Meza, Director of de DNI.
122. According to the declaration of Mr. Meza Argueta, dated July 20, 1983, Saúl Godínez had
been seen near Monjarás acting suspiciously. He added that "as an honest man and a good
Honduran, he reported this to the DNI for investigation." Mr. Castillo García presented a
complaint in similar terms to the Director of the DNI on August 3, 1983 requesting that "patrols
be sent from Tegucigalpa." Sergeant García, sub-delegate of the FUSEP in Monjarás, stated on
October 5, 1983 that, according to his information, Saúl Godínez was in Cuba and that he was
going to Nicaragua in December in order to begin terrorist activities in Honduras. Finally, the
Director of the DNI informed the Minister of Foreign Affairs that Godínez had been seen in the
area of Monjarás "acting suspiciously against the security of the State of Honduras "and that it
was "difficult for the Honduran Police to try to identify and locate" Godínez and other individuals
who had allegedly disappeared. No other details were provided and none of those who signed
these declarations was offered as a witness.
123. The Commission also presented evidence to show that from 1981 to 1984 domestic judicial
remedies in Honduras were ineffective in protecting human rights, especially the rights of
disappeared persons to life, liberty and personal integrity.
124.
The Court heard the following testimony with respect to this point:
a.
The legal procedures of Honduras were ineffective in ascertaining the
whereabouts of detainees and ensuring respect for their physical and moral
integrity. When writs of habeas corpus were brought, the courts were slow to
name judges to execute them and, once named, those judges were often ignored
by police authorities. On several occasions, the authorities denied the detentions,
even in cases in which the prisoners were later released. There were no judicial
orders for the arrests and the places of detention were unknown. When writs of
habeas corpus were formalized, the police authorities did not present the persons
named in the writs (testimony of Miguel Angel Pavón Salazar, Ramón Custodio
López, Milton Jiménez Puerto and Efraín Díaz Arrivillaga).
b.
The judges named by the Courts of Justice to execute the writs did not
enjoy all the necessary guarantees. Moreover, they feared reprisals because they
were often threatened. Judges were imprisoned on more than one occasion and
some of them were physically mistreated by the authorities. Law professors and
lawyers who defended political prisoners were pressured not to act in cases of
human rights violations. Only two dared bring writs of habeas corpus on behalf of
disappeared persons and one of those was arrested while he was filing a writ
(testimony of Milton Jiménez Puerto, Miguel Angel Pavón Salazar, Ramón Custodio
López, César Augusto Murillo, René Velásquez Díaz and Zenaida Velásquez).