report that the Commission adopts on the merits of the case, in order to determine whether
they constitute violations of the American Convention.
2.
Timeliness in lodging the petition
28. The American Convention establishes that for a petition to be admissible for the
Commission, it is required that it be lodged within six months from the date on which the
alleged victim has been notified of the definitive judgment. In the complaint under analysis,
the IACHR has ruled the application of exceptions to the exhaustion of domestic remedies in
Article 46(2)(c) of the American Convention. In this regard, Article 32 of the Regulations of the
Commission establishes that in cases where exceptions to the prior exhaustion of domestic
remedies are applicable, the petition should be lodged within a reasonable period of time in the
view of the Commission. Therefore, the Commission should consider the date on which the
alleged violation of rights took place and the circumstances of each case.
29. In this case, the petition was lodged on October 27, 2004, and the material facts of
the complaint are said to have taken place as of June 2002. So, taking into account the
context and characteristics of this case, as well as the fact that the investigation is still
pending, the Commission considers that the petition was lodged within a reasonable period of
time and that the requirement for admissibility with respect to the timeliness of its being
lodged is satisfied.
3.
Duplication of procedure and cosa juzgada
30. It does not appear from the record that the subject matter of the petition is pending
before any other international proceeding, nor that it reproduces a petition already examined
by this or any other international organization. Therefore, the requirements established in
Articles 46(1)(c) and 47(d) of the Convention have been satisfied.
4.
Characterization of the facts alleged
31. The Commission considers that the allegations of the petitioner with respect to the
alleged violation of the right to humane treatment, fair trial, freedom of association, movement
and residence, private property, and judicial protection may constitute violations of rights
protected by Articles 5(1), 8(1), 16, 19, 21(1), 21(2), 22(1), and 25, taken in relation to
Article 1(1) of the American Convention, in the light of the State’s obligation to respect rights,
and the actions and omissions of its agents with respect to actions committed by third parties.
There is no evidence that the complaint submitted is groundless or out of order, consequently
the Commission considers that the requirements of Article 47(b) and (c) of the American
Convention are satisfied. Also, given the allegations of the petitioner with respect to the rights
affected to Mrs. Rúa’s daughters because of the internal displacement the Commission
considers that the claim for the violation of article 19 meets the requirements of the
Convention.
32. With regard to the petitioners’ arguments regarding the alleged violation of Maria
Eugenia Rúa Figueroa’s political rights under Article 23 of the American Convention, the
Commission considers that that aspect of the complaint is not sufficiently grounded in the facts
of the complaint, given the nature of the association to which she belonged. 15
IV.
CONCLUSIONS
33. The Commission concludes that it is competent to examine the complaints lodged
by the petitioner with respect to the alleged violation of Articles 5(1), 8(1), 16, 19, 21(1),
15
Under Article 8 of Law 745 (2002) and its regulations, Decree 2350 (2003), the Communal Action Committee is a
non-profit, solidarity-based civic, social, and community social-management organization. It has legal personality and
its own assets and is formed voluntarily by the residents of a place who join forces and resources to achieve integral
and sustainable development, based on the exercise of participatory democracy in community-development
management.
6
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