72
with within a reasonable time, respecting the criteria mentioned above concerning
investigations in this type of case.273
212. In particular, the State must guarantee, through its competent institutions, that
the preliminary investigation that is being conducted into the facts that constituted the
rape of Mrs. Rosendo Cantú remain within the ordinary [non-military] jurisdiction.
Furthermore, if new criminal actions based on the facts of this case are filed against
alleged perpetrators, whom are or have been members of the military, the authorities in
charge of the case must ensure that they are conducted under the ordinary jurisdiction
and, in no circumstances, under the military forum.274
213. The Court reiterates that during the investigation and prosecution, the State must
ensure the victim full access and capacity to act at all stages. In a case such as this in
which the victim, a woman and indigenous person, has had to face various obstacles in
order to access justice, the State has the obligation to continue to offer the means by
which the victim may fully access and participate in all the proceedings of the case and,
to this end, it must ensure that an interpreter is provided and that she counts on
assistance with a gender-based perspective, all the foregoing is based on her
circumstance of special vulnerability. Lastly, if Mrs. Rosendo Cantú offers her consent,
the results of the proceedings must be publicized, so that Mexican society learns the
truth about the incident.
214. In addition, on other occasions,275 the Court has ordered the State to initiate
disciplinary, administrative, or criminal actions under its domestic law with regard to
those responsible for the different procedural and investigative irregularities in a case. In
the present case, taking into account that in this case an agents at the Ayutla Public
Prosecutor’s Office complicated matters when receiving the complaint filed by Mrs.
Rosendo Cantú (supra para. 179) and that it does not appear that one of the doctors had
given the corresponding authorities the legal warning, (supra para. 192) the Court
orders the State to examine this fact, and where applicable, the conduct of the
respective government employees, in keeping with the appropriate disciplinary norms.
215. Finally, in regard to the request to guarantee the security of the victims, the next
of kin, and the representatives, the Court recalls that the provisional measures ordered
opportunely by this Court remain in force (supra para. 15).
ii) Adaptation of domestic law to the international standards of justice
216. The Commission requested the Court to order Mexico to limit and restrict the
scope of the military jurisdiction, excluding it from hearing cases in which human rights
violations have been committed and, particularly, in cases of sexual abuse.
217. The representatives asked the Court to order the State to reform Article 13 of the
Constitution and Article 57 of the Code of Military Justice in order to establish clearly and
without any ambiguity that the military system of justice must abstain, whatsoever the
circumstances, from hearing cases of human rights violations attributed to members of
the Mexican Armed Forces, whether or not they are on active duty, being that it
considered the State has not fulfilled this obligation.
218. In the Court’s opinion, it is not only the suppression or expedition of domestic
legal provisions guarantee the rights contained in the American Convention. Pursuant to
273
Cf. Case of Radilla Pacheco, supra note 36, para. 331. See Case of the Dos Erres Massacre, supra note
27, para. 233; Case of Chitay Nech et al., supra note 25, para. 235, and Case of Manuel Cepeda Vargas, supra
note 25, para. 216.
274
Cf. Case of Radilla Pacheco, supra note 36, para. 332.
275
Cf. Case of the Dos Erres Massacre, supra note 27, para. 233, subsection d.
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