April 12, 2014 Ref.: Case No. 12.500 Omar Humberto Maldonado Vargas et al. Chile Dear Mr. Secretary, I am pleased to write to you on behalf of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to submit to the jurisdiction of the Honorable Inter-American Court of Human Rights Case No. 12.500, Omar Humberto Maldonado Vargas et al. in respect of the Republic of Chile (hereinafter “the State of Chile,” “the Chilean State,” or “Chile”). The instant case involves denial of justice to the detriment of Omar Humberto Maldonado Vargas, Álvaro Yañez del Villar, Mario Antonio Cornejo Barahona, Belarmino Constanzo Merino, Manuel Osvaldo López Ovanedel, Ernesto Augusto Galaz Guzmán, Mario González Rifo, Jaime Donoso Parra, Alberto Salustio Bustamante Rojas, Gustavo Raúl Lastra Saavedra, Víctor Hugo Adriazola Meza, and Ivar Onoldo Rojas Ravanal; stemming from the failure to investigate ex officio and diligently, acts of torture inflicted upon the victims in the context of the military dictatorship. Additionally, in denying the motion to reopen the case and the motion for reconsideration of judgment filed, respectively, on September 10, 2001, and September 7, 2002, the State breached its obligation to provide for an effective remedy for the victims to invalidate a criminal proceeding, which was based on evidence obtained by torture. Consequently, there was no mechanism available to the victims to assert the exclusionary rule as a fundamental corollary to the absolute prohibition of torture. The State ratified the American Convention on Human Rights on August 21, 1990, and accepted the contentious jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court on the same date. Similarly, it ratified the InterAmerican Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture on September 30, 1988. The instant case focuses specifically on the persistent failure to comply with the obligation to investigate and on the denial of justice stemming from the State’s response to the motion to reopen the case, filed on September 10, 2001. In this connection, all of the facts of the case fall within the temporal jurisdiction of the Court. Mr. Pablo Saavedra Alessandri, Secretary Inter-American Court of Human Rights P.O. Box 6906-1000 San José, Costa Rica Attachments