reasonable time.191 To this end, the State must: (a) ensure that the various organs of the
justice system involved in the case have the necessary human and material resources to carry
out their tasks in an adequate, independent and impartial manner and that the persons who
participate in the investigation, including victims, witnesses and judicial officers, have the due
security guarantees,192 and (b) ensure the full access and capacity to act of Mr. Valenzuela
Ávila’s next of kin at all stages of these investigations, in accordance with the law and the
regulations of the American Convention, in accordance with the established case law of the
Court.193 The purpose of said participation must be access to justice and knowledge about the
truth of what happened.
B.2. Investigate, identify and, where appropriate, punish those responsible for the
torture of Tirso Román Valenzuela Ávila.
234. The Commission requested that the State be ordered to investigate the acts of torture
suffered by Mr. Valenzuela Ávila diligently, effectively and within a reasonable time in order to
fully clarify the facts, identify the perpetrators and impose the corresponding punishment. The
representatives argued that the acts of torture were never investigated, and remain
unpunished, so they asked the Court to order the State to investigate all the facts related to
the violations committed.
235. The State acknowledged its international responsibility for the omission of the
obligation to investigate acts of torture ex officio and has also accepted the measure of
reparation requested with respect to initiating an investigation into these facts, in the terms
already indicated in paragraph 19 of this judgment.
236. In consideration of the partial acknowledgment of international responsibility of the
State for the omission to investigate the alleged torture suffered by Tirso Román Valenzuela
Ávila, as determined in the corresponding section of this judgment (supra paras. 22 and 147),
the Court determines that the State must initiate, in accordance with the provisions of
domestic law, within a period not exceeding six months, the aforementioned investigation to
clarify the alleged facts, with due diligence, and enable the participation of the victim’s family
or their representatives and access to the proceedings carried out. This Court recalls that the
State has the obligation to initiate an investigation ex officio in any case where there is news
of the possible occurrence of acts of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. 194
C.
Measures of satisfaction
a) Publication of the judgment
237. The representatives asked the Court to order the State: (i) to carry out an act of
acknowledgment of responsibility before the victim's family, in which it expressly accepts that
Tirso Román Valenzuela Ávila was tortured and executed by agents of the State as part of a
criminal plan aimed at the misnamed "selective social cleansing", this act is to be in writing,
191
Cf. Case of the Human Rights Defender et al. v. Guatemala, supra, para. 252, and Case of Omera Carrascal,
supra, para. 293.
192
Cf. Case of the Dos Erres Massacre v. Guatemala. Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs.
Judgment of November 24, 2009. Series C No. 211, para. 233, and Case of Omeara Carrascal et al. v. Colombia,
supra, para. 293.
193
Cf. Case of the Caracazo v. Venezuela. Reparations and Costs. Judgment of August 29, 2002. Series C No. 95,
para. 118, and Case of Women Victims of Sexual Torture in Atenco v. Mexico, supra, para. 339.
194
Cf. Case J. v. Peru. Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of November 27, 2013.
Series C No. 275, para. 375, and Case of Women Victims of Sexual Torture in Atenco v. Mexico, supra, para. 270.
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