32
143.
The IACHR likewise observes that based on the evidence contained in the case file,
Operation Chavín de Huántar had a chain of command which included President Fujimori Fujimori at the
first level, Vladimiro Montesinos and the Commander General of the Armed Forces at the second level,
and the commanders of the operation at the third level. The latter included Colonel Zamudio Aliaga, who
ordered a soldier to bring Mr. Cruz Sánchez back to the Ambassador’s residence. Here it should be noted
that, based on the evidence, several authorities knew about the detention of Mr. Cruz Sánchez.
Moreover, Eduardo Nicolás Cruz Sánchez was one of the three members identified by the government as
MRTA leaders inside the Ambassador’s residence.
144.
In view of the lethal use of force by state agents, the Peruvian authorities have not
determined by means of internal investigations whether the use of force to the detriment of Eduardo
Nicolás Cruz Sánchez adhered to the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality. The State did
not initiate an ex officio proceeding in this regard, nor did it initiate an internal administrative proceeding to
determine whether or not the force used was legitimate or preserve evidentiary materials. The only action
ordered immediately after the death of Mr. Cruz Sánchez was the removal of the body and the
performance of a partial reference autopsy. Moreover, although the report on the removal of the bodies
was signed by certain experts, the statements given years later before the Public Prosecutor’s Office
indicate that those individuals were compelled to do so by the military high command, even though they
had not been present at the time. The case file also shows that the professionals responsible for
performing the autopsies the day after the events were forbidden to take photographs and videos, which
limited the quality of the autopsies. As one of these experts stated in the course of the investigation by the
Prosecutor’s Office: “all examinations must include a photo to create a lasting record of the different
procedures performed in the mouth.” The case file also offers no indication that the weapons allegedly
found on Mr. Cruz Sánchez were preserved or that paraffin tests were performed.
145.
The professionals involved in the partial autopsy also asserted in their statements before
the Public Prosecutor’s Office that “the autopsy order issued by the Chief of Service was to do the
minimum,” that the orders came from the President, that they did not have a suitable setting, and that
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dead patients presenting some indication of a crime were transferred to the Central Morgue of Lima.
146.
In view of the shortcomings of the partial reference autopsy performed on April 23, 1997,
after the criminal case was opened in the ordinary jurisdiction based on a complaint lodged by the
relatives of some of the MRTA members, the Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered the exhumation of the
remains of the dead MRTA members and the preparation of an expert report. The latter revealed the
shortcomings of the initial autopsy and determined that, as a result, it was physically impossible to arrive
at new determinations in cases such as paraffin tests or a more detailed examination of the injuries since
there was no longer skin on the remains, nor photographs or videos from the first autopsy. According to
the 2001 expert report:
Due to the advanced state of decomposition … and the absence of soft parts, the distances from
which the projectiles were fired cannot be fully determined. The signs found in the gunshot entry
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wounds, in the bones, could correspond to shots fired from a short or long distance.
147.
It is also important to recall, just as the military court determined, that:
… The most rigorous and complete expert examinations relating to the thanatological studies of the
bodies […] took place more than four years after the events occurred, which means, for example
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Inquiry by the Public Ministry of September 22, 2006, (file provided by the State).
Report on the human remains NN1-NN4 attributed to the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, prepared by Clyde C.
Show, PhD and José Pablo Baraybar, MSc. Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team (EPAF) July 2001, appendix to the
representatives’ communication of April 22, 2008 and February 3, 2003. Report of the forensic medical examinations performed by
the Institute of Forensic Medicine.
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