under the American Convention that, if proven, could constitute violations of Articles 1.(1), 2, 8 and 25 of the Convention. The petitioners also allege violations of Articles 4, 5, 7, 24 and 63 (1) of the American Convention, but offered no arguments or evidence to substantiate such violations. Specifically, the petitioners allege the denial of justice in the fact that in 2003 the Chilean Supreme Court, on grounds of statutory limitations, denied their application for compensation for mental suffering occasioned by the alleged arbitrary arrest and execution of Mr. Augusto Alcayaga Aldunate by State agents. They argue that the Chilean judicial system has systematically applied statutory limitations to deny judicial action seeking reparation for damages caused in the area of human rights. 23. The principal argument presented in the response by the State on February 18, 2005 is that Chile is not responsible, under the American Convention, for violations allegedly committed during the period between September 11, 1973 and March 11, 1990. The Commission considers that in the case at hand the allegations refer only to the judgments handed down by the Chilean courts between 1999 and 2003, when the Convention was already in effect for Chile. As to the State's argument that the Commission should declare the petition inadmissible because origin of the events took place prior to March 11, 1990, the Commission rejects this argument because the judicial proceedings constitute events independent of the summary executions. The Commission bases this conclusion on the judgment of November 23, 2004 in the case of the Sisters Serrano Cruz vs. El Salvador, in which the Inter-American Court held: 84. The Court considers that the events that occurred after recognition of the Court's jurisdiction by El Salvador, referring to the alleged violations of Articles 8 and 25 of the Convention in relation with Article 1.thereof, are not excluded by the limitation imposed by the State, because what is at issue are judicial decisions constituting independent events that began after El Salvador's recognition of the Court's jurisdiction, and that could constitute specific and independent instances of the denial of justice occurring after recognition of the Court's jurisdiction. 24. In the case at hand, as in the Sisters Serrano Cruz case, the petitioners have alleged a violation of due process, in particular, that the State applied the statute of limitations, under private international law, in order to deny justice, i.e. the possibility of reparations for an international crime committed by State agents. Despite the fact that the violations of due process could not have occurred without the predicate

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents