an effective judicial remedy to control the deprivation of liberty of the victims under the conventional
standards. The Commission, thus, considered that the State violated the rights established in Articles
7(6) and 25(1) of the Convention, read in conjunction with Article 1(1) thereof, to the detriment of
Jorge Marcial Tzompaxtle Tecpile, Gerardo Tzompaxtle Tecpile and Gustavo Robles López.
B. Considerations of the Court
93. The Court recalls that the State partially acknowledged its responsibility with respect to the
violation of Articles 7, 8(2) and 25 of the Convention, read in conjunction with the obligation to respect
the rights contained therein, to the detriment of Jorge Marcial Tzompaxtle Tecpile, Gerardo Tzompaxtle
Tecpile and Gustavo Robles López (supra paras. 14 and 15). The Court also understood in Chapter IV
that there is no longer a controversy on those violations. While respecting the aforementioned, the
Court, in view of the nature of this case, finds it necessary to refer to some issues on the right to
personal liberty and to analyze the violations of the Convention that were not acknowledged by the
State regarding the institutions of arraigo and of pre-trial detention that exist in the Mexican legal
order. This section will address those points in the following order: 1) general considerations on the
rights to personal liberty and to the presumption of innocence during criminal investigations and
proceedings; 2) the compatibility of arraigo and pre-trial detention with the Convention; 3) the
application of arraigo and of pre-trial detention in this case, and 4) the conclusion.
94. The Court will also analyze the institutions of arraigo and pre-trial detention that were applied
to the victims of this case, using the norms in force when the events occurred.
B.1. General considerations on the rights to personal liberty and to the presumption of innocence
during criminal investigations and proceedings
95.
As a preliminary matter, the Court recalls that the States have the obligation to guarantee
security and to maintain public order within their territories and that, to do so, they may employ the
necessary means to combat delinquency and organized crime, including methods that imply
restrictions to or even deprivations of personal liberty. However, a State’s power is not unlimited in
achieving those aims, regardless of the gravity of certain acts and the culpability of the alleged
perpetrators; in particular, the authorities may not infringe rights set forth in the Convention such as,
inter alia, the rights to the presumption of innocence, to personal liberty, to due process and the
prohibition of carrying out unlawful or arbitrary detentions. 65
96.
With respect to the arbitrary arrests or imprisonments referred to in Article 7(3) of the
Convention, the Court has determined that no one may be subjected to arrest or imprisonment for
reasons and by methods that, although classified as lawful, may be incompatible with the respect for
the fundamental rights of the individual because, inter alia, they are unreasonable, unpredictable or
disproportionate. 66 Domestic law, the applicable procedures and the corresponding general explicit or
tacit general principles must, per se, be compatible with the Convention. Thus, “arbitrariness” is not
to be equated with “against the law,” but must be interpreted more broadly to include elements of
inappropriateness, injustice and unpredictability. 67 For its part, Article 8(2) refers to the presumption
of innocence.
97.
The Court has held that, in order to ensure that a precautionary measure that restricts liberty
not be arbitrary and that the presumption of innocence is not negatively affected, it is necessary that:
65
Cf. Mutatis mutandis, Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Merits, Judgment of July 29, 1988. Series C No. 4,
para. 154 and Case of Cruz Sánchez et al. v. Peru. Preliminary Objections, Merits. Reparations and Costs. Judgment of April
17, 2015. Series C No. 292, para. 262.
Cf. Case of Gangaram Panday v. Suriname. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of January 21, 1994. Series C
No. 16, para. 47 and Case of Habbal et al. v. Argentina. Preliminary Objections, Merits. Judgment of August 31, 2022. Series
C No. 463, para. 63.
66
Cf. Case of Chaparro Álvarez and Lapo Íñiguez v. Ecuador. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs.
Judgment of November 21, 2007. Series C No. 170, para. 92 and Case of Habbal et al. v. Argentina, supra, para. 63.
67
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