violation of Article 5(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.
175. The Commission also alleged that the sum of violations resulting from the arbitrary deprivation
of liberty and from the proceedings without judicial guarantees also affected their right to mental
integrity. It concluded that the State violated Article 5(1) of the Convention, read in conjunction with
its Article 1(1) thereof, to the detriment of Jorge Marcial Tzompaxtle Tecpile, Gerardo Tzompaxtle
Tecpile and Gustavo Robles López.
176. The Commission also argued that the search of the vehicle in which Jorge Marcial Tzompaxtle
Tecpile, Gerardo Tzompaxtle Tecpile and Gustavo Robles López were traveling negatively affected
their right to privacy and it concluded that the State infringed the right established in Article 11(2) of
the Convention, read in conjunction with Article 1(1) thereof, to their detriment.
177. The representatives augmented the Commission’s allegations with “the fact that the
detention of the victims was arbitrary increased their vulnerability before the authorities, which added
to the precarious conditions of detention of arraigo and the Mexican penitentiary system, and the
threats to which they were subjected infringed their right to mental integrity.” With regard to the
alleged violation of the right to privacy, they agreed with the Commission’s position and added that
the searches of March 31, 2006 of the home of the mother of the brothers Tzompaxtle Tecpile and
that of the shop that housed the family business violated their right to privacy. They argued that these
actions were carried out without a search warrant and were an abuse of power under the law that
allows the authorities to investigate crimes since no element of the applicable criminal offenses could
be investigated or proved as a result of the documents and publications gathered.
178. The State acknowledged its international responsibility for violating Articles 5(¡) and 11 of the
Convention to the detriment of the victims. It specifically referred to its responsibility for the events
related to the conditions of isolation and incommunicado to which Jorge Marcial Tzompaxtle Tecpile,
Gerardo Tzompaxtle Tecpile and Gustavo Robles López were subjected during their detention, as well
as the detention and search of the vehicle in which they were traveling (supra para. 14).
179. Regarding the alleged violation to the right to privacy due to the search of the home of the
mother of the brothers Tzompaxtle Tecpile and of the shop that housed the family business, the State
claimed that the decision of October 16, 2008 of the Second Central Criminal Court of the Seventh
Circuit, which acquitted Gerardo Tzompaxtle Tecpile, Jorge Marcial Tzompaxtle Tecpile and Gustavo
Robles López of the charges brought by the OPP, held that the acts involved in the searches that were
the basis for the federal judge to consider proved the crime of terrorism were not legally valid and,
therefore, reversed the decision of the domestic court.
B. Considerations of the Court
180. The Court recalls that the State acknowledged its responsibility for violating Articles 5 and
11(2) of the Convention, in relation to the obligation to respect the rights contained therein, to the
detriment of Jorge Marcial Tzompaxtle Tecpile, Gerardo Tzompaxtle Tecpile and Gustavo Robles López
(supra para. 14). However, there remains the controversy on the alleged infringement of the right to
privacy (Article 11(2)) due to the searches, on March 31, 2006, of the home of the mother of the
brothers Tzompaxtle Tecpile and of the shop that housed the family business.
181. Notwithstanding the above and the State’s acknowledgement, given the nature of the facts of
the case and of the violations produced, the Court deems it necessary to refer to some points related
to the rights to personal integrity and to privacy and to analyze the alleged violations of the Convention
that were not acknowledged by the State regarding the searches of the home of the mother of the
brothers Tzompaxtle Tecpile and of the shop that housed the family business. Thus, this section will
take up those points in the following order: a) the right to personal integrity of Jorge Marcial
Tzompaxtle Tecpile, Gerardo Tzompaxtle Tecpile and Gustavo Robles López and b) the right to privacy
of Jorge Marcial Tzompaxtle Tecpile, Gerardo Tzompaxtle Tecpile and Gustavo Robles López.
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