Examining Judge No. 2, the case file does not evidence any actions taken by that judge
in order to investigate this irregularity.
120. The case file indicates that on October 27, 2003, the First Precinct brought the
preliminary actions before Examining Judge No. 2. Starting on that date, the
investigations were conducted by that judge under case number 1138/03. 126 In this
regard, the representatives alleged that there was "a delay by police personnel in
submitting the actions before the Court." However, they did not present any arguments
or grounds with respect to why that lapse of time should be considered a delay and how
it constitutes a violation of due process.
121. In the judicial case file, it can be observed that from the start, Examining Judge
No. 2 ordered and took several steps mostly towards locating the whereabouts of Mr.
Iván Eladio Torres Millacura.127 The actions toward determining who was responsible for
his arrests and disappearance were minimal. On this point, the Court highlights that the
majority of the steps initially ordered were carried out by the personnel of the First
Precinct itself. Those steps included taking testimony from witnesses on what happened
to Mr. Torres Millacura. In this regard, Mrs. Millacura Llaipén requested that the evidence
gathering procedures be carried out by security forces personnel that did not belong to
the Province of Chubut. 128 However, her request was considered "extravagant" and
without juridical basis, and thus it was denied. 129 The Court finds that, taking into
account what Mrs. Millacura Llaipén denounced with regard to what happened to her son,
it was clear that the investigation should not have been carried out by the very officers
being accused of having committed Mr. Torres Millacura’s enforced disappearance. For
the Tribunal, this constituted a lack of due diligence in initial evidence collection.
Nevertheless, the Court observes that subsequently, on January 12, 2004, the Office of
the Public Prosecutor requested the participation of the National Gendarmerie to gather
forensic evidence. 130 From that point on, the National Gendarmerie participated in
gathering various evidentiary elements, such as fingerprints, DNA, visual inspections,
etc.
122. The Court also notes that the gathering of the testimony of police officers who
were possibly involved in the facts was tardily ordered by Examining Judge No. 2. The
case file indicates that approximately six months later, all the police officers still had
not been called to testify. Likewise, the taking of testimony from other individuals,
particularly those who had been working in the Plaza Bitto ice cream shop when Mr.
Torres Millacura disappeared was ordered almost one year after the complaint was filed.
In this regard, the Tribunal has already established that the passage of time has a
126
Cf. Oficial letter of the Chief of the Police Department of the city of Comodoro Rivadavia, Province of
Chubut, on October 27, 2003 (case file of annexes to the application, tome X, folio 7269).
127
Among other things, the judge carried out a visual inspection in the First Police Precinct of Comodoro
Rivadavia of the precinct’s log book corresponding to September 15, 2003, as well as of the area behind the
Bitto ice cream shop where Mr. Iván Eladio Torres Millacura disappeared; he received testimony from Gerardo
Atilio Colin and Luis Patricio Oliva; the judge ordered the phone tapping of the "Torres family," the deadline for
which was later extended; he added a report to the record on a traffic control operation carried out on October
2-3, 2003; he ordered the Federal Radio Broadcasting Committee to distribute the photograph of Iván Eladio
Torres Millacura for his identification, and ordered some television channels to broadcast information on Mr.
Torres Millacura; he asked INTERPOL of the Argentine Federal Police to establish whether Mr. Torres Millacura
had entered a bordering country and to conduct inquiries on whether Mr. Torres Millacura was in any hospitals,
aid centers, or police facilities; he ordered reports on the search for Mr. Torres Millacura that were prepared by
different Argentine provincial authorities added to the record.
128
Cf. Brief of María Leontina Millacura Llaipén on December 1, 2003 filed before the Examining Judge
No. 2 of Comodoro Rivadavia (case file of annexes to the application, tome X, folios 7525 to 7526).
129
Cf. Decision of the Examining Judge No. 2 of Comodoro Rivadavia on December 12, 2003 (case file of
annexes to the application, tome X, folio 7674).
130
Cf. Resolution of the Fiscal Public Ministry on January 12, 2004 (case file of annexes to the application,
tome X, folios 7806 and 7807).
38
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