2
Report No. 5/95 of February 15, 1995. The case originated with a petition (No.
11.219) against Guatemala, lodged with the Secretariat of the Commission on
November 18, 1993.
3.
On April 16, 1997, Guatemala “accept[ed] international human rights
responsibility, for delay in the application of justice until the year nineteen hundred
and ninety-five (1995).”
4.
On January 24, 1998, the Court rendered a judgment on the merits of the
case in which:
1.
it declar[ed] that the State of Guatemala violated, to the detriment of the
relatives of Mr. Nicholas Chapman Blake, the judicial guarantees set forth in
Article 8(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights, in relation to Article
1(1) of the same, in the terms established in paragraphs 96 and 97 of [said]
judgment.
2.
it declar[ed] that the State of Guatemala violated, to the detriment of the
relatives of Mr. Nicholas Chapman Blake, the right to humane treatment
enshrined in Article 5 of the American Convention on Human Rights, in relation
to Article 1(1) of the same, in the terms established in paragraphs 112, 114,
115 and 116 of [said] judgment.
3.
it declar[ed] that the State of Guatemala is obliged to use all the means at its
disposal to investigate the acts denounced and punish those responsible for the
disappearance and death of Mr. Nicholas Chapman Blake.
4.
it declar[ed] that the State of Guatemala is obliged to pay a fair compensation
to the relatives of Mr. Nicholas Chapman Blake and reimburse them for the
expenses incurred in their representations to the Guatemalan authorities in
connection with this process.
5.
it order[ed] that the reparations stage be opened.
III
PROCEEDINGS AT THE REPARATIONS STAGE
5.
On January 24, 1998, the Inter-American Court, in compliance with its
judgment of that date, decided:
1.
To grant the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights until March 13,
1998, to submit a brief and any evidence that it may have in its possession for
the purpose of determining the compensation and expenses in this case.
2.
To grant the family members of Nicholas Chapman Blake or their
representatives until March 13, 1998, to submit a brief and any evidence that
they may have in their possession for the purpose of determining the
compensation and expenses in this case.
3.
To grant the State of Guatemala until May 4, 1998, to make its observations
about the briefs that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the
relatives or their representatives submit pursuant to the preceding paragraphs.
6.
On March 2, 1998, the relatives of Mr. Nicholas Blake asked the Court to
extend the deadline set by this Court in its January 24, 1998 Resolution for one
month to allow them to submit a brief on reparations.