16
Honduras, in a document of the same date, asserted that this confirmed the "well-founded
suspicions that these murders and alleged disappearances are only an escalation in the attempts
of anti-democratic sectors to destabilize the legally constituted system of our country."
74.
On January 24, 1989, the President repeated the request to the Government that it inform
the Court as soon as possible regarding:
1.
The current state of the judicial inquiry into the assassinations of
witnesses, José Isaías Vilorio, which took place on January 5, 1988, and of Miguel
Angel Pavón Salazar, which occurred on January 14, 1988, "so that those
responsible may be punished" (decisions of January 15 and 19, 1988).
2.
The specific measures taken by the Government of Honduras "to make
clear that the appearance of an individual before the Inter-American Commission
or Court of Human Rights, under conditions authorized by the American
Convention and by the rules of procedure of both bodies, is a right enjoyed by
every individual and is recognized as such by Honduras as a party to the
Convention." (Decision of January 19, 1988).
No answer to this communication has been received.
V
75.
The Government raised several preliminary objections that the Court ruled upon in its
Judgment of June 26, 1987 (supra 15-22). There the Court ordered the joining of the merits and
the preliminary objection regarding the failure to exhaust domestic remedies, and gave the
Government and the Commission another opportunity to "substantiate their contentions" on the
matter (Fairén Garbi and Solís Corrales Case, Preliminary Objections, supra 22, para. 89).
76.
The Court will first rule upon this preliminary objection. In do doing, it will make use of all
the evidence before it, including that presented during the proceedings on the merits.
77.
The Commission presented witnesses and documentary evidence on this point. The
Government, in turn, submitted some documentary evidence, including examples of writs of
habeas corpus successfully brought on behalf of some individuals (infra 123 (d)).
The
Government also stated that this remedy requires identification of the place of detention and of
the authority under which the person is detained.
78.
In addition to the writ of habeas corpus, the Government mentioned various remedies that
might possibly be invoked, such as appeal, cassation, extraordinary writ of amparo, ad effectum
videndi, criminal complaints against those ultimately responsible and a presumptive finding of
death.
79.
The Commission argued that the remedies mentioned by the Government were ineffective
because of the internal conditions in the country during that period. It presented documentation
of three writs of habeas corpus brought on behalf of Francisco Fairén Garbi and Yolanda Solís
Corrales did not produce results. It also cited a criminal complaint that failed to lead to the
identification and punishment of those responsible. In the Commission's opinion, those legal
proceedings exhausted domestic remedies as required by Article 46 (1) (a) of the Convention.
80.
The Court will first consider the legal arguments relevant to the question of exhaustion of
domestic remedies and then apply them to the case.