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training, and this complaint was corroborated by Mr. Quispealaya during the psychological evaluation
performed by the Medical-legal Institute of the Office of the Attorney General of Huancayo on June 11,
2002. The Commission notes that, similarly, the petitioners reported to the Public Prosecutor on the
same date (February 28, 2002) that Mr. Quispealaya was beaten by five unknown subjects on January
15, 2002 when he returned from Huancayo to Lima alter visiting his mother, and that when he returned
to the military base he found out that his companions had changed their versions of the facts under
threat of noncommissioned officer Hilaquita. Additionally, the petitioners reported to the Office of the
Attorney General that noncommissioned officer Hilaquita had again contacted Mr. Quispealaya in order
to threaten him if he did not change his version of the facts.
137. The file similarly shows that on December 10, 2002, soldier Edson Huayra Arancibia
presented a complaint to the Ombudsman’s Office of Huancayo for intimidation and coercion against
soldier Juan Hilaquita Quispe, against whom he had testified before the Private Military Court regarding
the abuse to which the latter had subjected him during his time in the Army, as well as regarding the
injuries that he had caused to soldier Quispealaya.
138. In this regard, the Commission observes that the case file does not indicate that any
investigation was begun or that the Office of the Attorney General had adopted any measure with
respect to the threats reported in order to protect the subject matter and the purpose of the criminal
proceedings, that is, the determination of the truth, the assignment of responsibilities. Similarly, the
Commission observes that an order of arrest for noncommissioned officer Hilaquita Quispe was only
issued on October 21, 2002, almost eight months after the victim’s mother presented a complaint
against him. This order was not carried out, due to the resistance of the military jurisdiction to turn the
accused over to the civil courts, as the case file of the 5th Judge of the Criminal Court of Huancayo of
March 12, 2003 demonstrates.
139. Based on the foregoing analysis, the Commission considers that in the present case, Mr.
Quispealaya’s right to access justice was violated, since proceedings were not initiated by the
competent authorities, pertinent means were not adopted to protect the subject matter and purpose of
the criminal proceedings. Despite the fact that Mr. Quispealaya repeatedly complained about threats
against him and other witnesses to the facts, the proceedings were carried out in the military courts for
nearly seven years in clear violations of the obligations assumed by the State of Peru by ratifying the
American Convention. Similarly, the State did not adopt the means at its disposable to clarify the facts
in a reasonable time period, which caused impunity to prevail more than 12 years after the events
occurred. Consequently, the Commission concludes that in the present case, the rights of Mr.
Quispealaya Vilcampoma enshrined in Articles 8(1) and 25 of the American Convention were violated, in
relation to the obligation of the State to respect and guarantee the rights enshrined in that Convention.
2.
Right to personal integrity (Articles 5 y 1(1) of the American Convention on Human
Rights) of the victim’s family
140. The right to personal integrity, enshrined in Article 5(1) of the American Convention,
establishes that “[e]very person has the right to have his physical, mental, and moral integrity
respected.” In this sense, the Commission has recognized that:
Among the fundamental principles upon which the American Convention is grounded is the
recognition that the rights and freedoms protected thereunder are derived from the attributes of
their human personality. From this principle flows the basic requirement underlying the