23
included therein or the sources consulted for its elaboration. Likewise, even though the
State mentioned that the report does not analyze individual cases “in detail���, the Tribunal
points out that said document contains specific information on the alleged arrest and
subsequent forced disappearance of Mr. Rosendo Radilla-Pacheco, which has not been
objected by the State. Similarly, the Court observes that as a historical report, the reference
made to contextual facts, that is, those that refer to the general phenomenon of forced
disappearance in Mexico, results relevant to this case, in attention to that established in
paragraphs 116 through 117 of the present Judgment.
76.
Based on the aforementioned, the Tribunal decides to grant evidentiary value to the
Report of the Special Prosecutors’ Office in all those aspects related to the factual grounds
of the present case, taking into account the complete body of evidence, as well as that
established by the Tribunal in Chapter VIII (infra paras. 116 and 117) of the present
judgment.
77.
Regarding “[t]he journalistic notes” presented by the representatives, the State
mentioned that “[t]hey shall be assessed taking into account that they are drawn up with
the objective of capturing the reader’s attention and thus have the opportunity of achieving
a greater marketing of the newspaper in which they are included; [and that] therefore, the
veracity of said notes is decreased.” In this sense, the Court verified that several of the
press documents forwarded by the representatives are incomplete in their text and,
therefore, the source, date, and page of the publication cannot be seen in several of them.
However, none of the parties objected those documents based on that, nor did they
question their authenticity. In that sense, as has been stated on multiple occasions, the
Tribunal considers that the press documents can be assessed as long as they refer to public
and notorious acts or statements made by State officials, or when they corroborate aspects
regarding the case.53 Therefore, in the present case, those documents that are complete or
in which, at least, the source and date of the publication can be verified will be considered.
78.
Regarding the documentary evidence that consists of a “[l]ist of probable responsible
parties” in the present case, which was provided by the representatives, the State indicated
that “[i]t is completely unnecessary since the […] Court does not have the ability to
determine the criminal responsibility of specific individuals,” reason for which it requested
that the Tribunal dismiss it. The Court considers it appropriate to state, as it has done on
other occasions, that “[i]t has the authority to establish the international responsibility of
the States based on the violation of human rights, but not to investigate and punish the
behavior of the State agents that participated in those violations.”54
79.
However, the Court observes that according to that mentioned by the
representatives, the mentioned list “was prepared based on the documents that are present
in the preliminary inquiry.” Likewise, that the State did not invalidate said information, but
instead their objection refers to the Tribunal’s lack of jurisdiction to determine the individual
criminal responsibility. Additionally, the Court points out that, despite the fact that it was
requested by the President of the Court as evidence to facilitate adjudication of the case
(infra paras. 88 through 92), the State did not forward to the Court a copy of the
preliminary inquiry (infra paras. 89 through 92) based on which the representatives stated
that the mentioned list was prepared. In that sense, given that said preliminary inquiry is
53
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras, supra note 24, para. 146; Case of Anzualdo Castro v. Peru,
supra note 44, para. 25, and Case of Garibaldi v. Brazil, supra note 32, para. 70.
54
Case of Castillo Petruzzi et al. v. Peru. Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of May 30, 1999. Series
C No. 52, para. 90 and Case of Lori Berenson Mejía v. Peru. Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of November
25, 2004. Series C No. 119, para. 92.