REPORT Nº46/05 PETITION 786/03 ADMISSIBILITY RAINER IBSEN CÁRDENAS AND JOSÉ LUIS IBSEN PEÑA BOLIVIA October 12, 2005 I. SUMMARY 1. On September 26, 2003, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereafter "the Commission or "the IACHR") received a petition against the Republic of Bolivia presented by Messrs. Mario Resine Ordoñe and Tito Ibsen (hereafter "the petitioners") alleging the illegal detention, torture and subsequent forced disappearance of the alleged victims Rainer Ibsen Cárdenas and José Luis Ibsen Peña, brother and father, respectively, of the petitioner Tito Ibsen, which events occurred in 1971 and 1973. 2. The petitioners maintained that to date there is no knowledge of the whereabouts of the victims. The petitioners also argued that, given the active participation of the victims' relatives in promoting investigations into the whereabouts of their loved ones, those family members had been the subject of threats and harassment by the accused. 3. With respect to the exhaustion of internal remedies, the petitioners argued that such an objection does not apply in this case because of unwarranted judicial delays in the criminal investigation which, now that more than 30 years have elapsed since the events, amount to a denial of justice. 4. In its response, the Bolivian State asked that the petition be declared inadmissible. In support of that request it cited the failure to exhaust internal remedies, and the lateness of the petition. The State also objected to some of the facts alleged by the petitioners, arguing that, with respect to Rainer Ibsen Cárdenas, according to versions from the Asociación de Familiares Mártires por la Democracia (“Association of Relatives of Martyrs for Democracy”, ASOFAMD), his remains were found in 1984 in the public cemetery of the city of La Paz, and were deposited in the ASOFAMD Mausoleum, as recorded in the records of that cemetery. 5. After examining the petition, pursuant to Articles 46 and 47 of the American Convention as well as Articles 30, 37 and concordant articles of its rules of procedure, the Commission decided to declare the petition admissible with respect to the alleged violations of Articles I, XVII, XVIII, XXV and XXVI of the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man; Articles 3, 4, 7, 8, 13, 17, 24 and 25 and 1(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereafter "the American Convention") and Articles I, III, IV and XI of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons. Consequently, the Commission has decided to notify the parties and to publish this Admissibility report and to include it in its Annual Report. II. PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION 6. On September 26, 2003, the IACHR received a petition submitted by Messrs. Mario Resine Ordoñe and Tito Ibsen alleging the illegal detention, torture and subsequent forced disappearance of the alleged victims Rainer Ibsen Cárdenas and José Luis Ibsen Peña. 7. The Commission recorded the petition under number 786/03 and on May 25, 2004, transmitted the relevant portions of the petition to the State, giving it two months to submit its response, pursuant to Article 30.3 of the rules of procedure. On November 30, 2004, the State requested an extension of 60 days for presenting its observations. In a note of December 8, 2004, the Commission granted the State an extension of 45 days, from the date of transmission of that communication. 1