47
joined the criminal case as civil parties and submitted several procedural motions during the process.
Similarly, relatives of Eduardo Nicolás Cruz Sánchez, Herma Luz Meléndez Cueva and Salomón Peceros
Pedraza cooperated with the nine studies performed on the remains in 2001.
210.
Taking into account the foregoing, the IACHR finds that there was a violation of the
reasonable time period in the criminal proceeding in the case under study.
211.
Moreover, the Commission observes that despite evidence in the case file concerning
obstruction by the military judge, the latter has never been prosecuted. It is also telling that no member of
the military has been prosecuted as a triggerman in the execution of Eduardo Nicolás Sánchez, and all of
the commandos who participated in the Operation were absolved in relation to the executions of Víctor
Salomón Cruz Sánchez and Herma Luz Meléndez Cruz.
212.
With respect to an effective remedy, the Commission emphasizes that the State sent part
of the examination of the facts to the military jurisdiction where the proceeding was conducted in secrecy
and the relatives were unable to participate. In the ordinary court jurisdiction, fourteen years after the
events and ten years after the case was opened, there has not been a single conviction. Therefore, the
Commission finds that the State has not guaranteed them an effective judicial remedy.
213.
Based on the discussion presented in this chapter, the Commission concludes that in the
instant case, the competent authorities failed to respect the judicial guarantees to which the relatives of
Eduardo Nicolás Cruz Sánchez, Herma Luz Meléndez Cueva and Salomón Peceros Pedraza were
entitled, and did not provide them with an effective remedy to guarantee a fair trial, a determination of the
truth of what happened, and the investigation, identification, prosecution and where warranted,
punishment of the direct perpetrators and masterminds of the execution of those individuals. Therefore,
the State is responsible for the violation of the right to due process guarantees and to judicial protection
enshrined in Articles 8(1) and 25(1) of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) of that treaty, to
the detriment of Florentín Peceros Farfán, Nemecia Pedraza, Jenifer Solange Peceros Quispe, Herma
Luz Cueva Torres, Edgar Odón Cruz Acuña and Lucinda Rojas Landa, relatives of the victims of
extrajudicial execution.
3.
Failure to comply with the obligation to adopt domestic provisions (Article 2 of the
American Convention), in relation to Articles 8 and 25 of that instrument
214.
The Commission also considers that the facts surrounding the extrajudicial execution of
Eduardo Nicolás Cruz Sánchez, Herma Luz Meléndez Cueva and Víctor Salomón Peceros Pedraza
amount to a failure to comply with Article 2 of the American Convention to the detriment of their next of
kin. In this sense, while the Inter-American Commission did not pronounce on the alleged violation of that
article in its admissibility report, it has been substantiated by the information and documentation provided
by the parties during the processing of the instant case, and the State has had the opportunity to defend
itself and to present any relevant pleadings and in fact, did so during the public hearing when it referred to
its domestic jurisdiction on this point. Therefore, in application of the principle of iura novit curia, the
Commission will develop its considerations on this point.
215.
Article 2 of the American Convention establishes the general obligation of each State to
adjust its domestic law in keeping with the provisions of the former in order to guarantee the rights
enshrined therein, which implies that the measures of domestic law must be effective (principle of effet
213
utile).
213
Inter-Am. Ct. H.R., Case of Radilla Pacheco v. Mexico. Judgment on Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and
Costs. November 23, 2009, para. 288, Inter-Am. Ct. H.R., Case of Garrido and Baigorria v. Argentina, Case of Garrido and Baigorria
v. Argentina. Merits. Judgment of February 2, 1996. Series C No. 26, para. 68; Inter-Am. Ct. H.R., Case of Zambrano Vélez et al v.
Ecuador. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of July 4, 2007. Series C No. 166, para. 55.