other 45 individuals who had been indicated, there was no evidence to prove that they had
been victims of violations of the rights recognized in the American Convention.
A.2. Considerations of the Court
195. The Court has verified that the notes for purchases and the blank receipts on which
the debts of the Hacienda Brasil Verde workers were recorded were informal handwritten
records, in which the complete name of the worker was not included and, at times, only their
aliases were written. For example, some of the names of those who were presented as
presumed victims based on the notes for purchases or blank receipts were as follows: Antônio
“Caititu,” Antônio “Capixaba,” Irineu, José Carlos, José Francisco, Francisco, “Índio,” “Mato
Grosso,” “Pará” and “Parazinho.”
196. Consequently, the Court finds that there is a reasonable doubt as regards the fact that
the name indicated on a purchase note or blank receipt could refer to a worker previously
identified by another evidentiary document, or even a worker who was not in Hacienda Brasil
Verde at the time of the April 1997 inspection. Accordingly, the Court considers that, for the
effects of this case, the purchase notes or blank receipts do not provide certain proof of the
presence of a specific worker in Hacienda Brasil Verde at the time of the April 1997 inspection,
or of his consequent status of presumed victim.
197. Nevertheless, the Court finds it pertinent to indicate that the determination that a
worker is a presumed victim of alleged violations of the Convention is not derived exclusively
from a possible rescue by the Ministry of Labor or the Federal Police, but from the conditions
he experienced during the time he provided his services in the hacienda, as well as from the
respective investigations in this regard, regardless of whether he was rescued during the
inspection. Consequently, the Court rejects the State’s argument that only those workers
who were rescued from Hacienda Brasil Verde by state agents may be presumed victims.
198. That said, bearing in mind that, in order to analyze this case, the Court requires a
minimum degree of certainty about the existence of such persons214 in order to prove their
status as presumed victims, the Court used the following evidentiary instruments provided
by the parties: (i) Record of offenses (RI); (ii) Record of hacienda employees (RE); (iii)
Contract termination document (TC); (iv) Physical Verification Form (VF), and (v) List of
workers indicated by the defense counsel of the manager and the gato during the domestic
criminal proceedings (PP). An analysis of these documents revealed that: (a) 26 individuals215
were presented as presumed victims based exclusively on purchase notes or blank receipts;
(b) in the case of 10 individuals,216 there was no evidence to prove their status as presumed
victim, and (c) 14 individuals217 refer to workers who were identified previously.
214
Cf. Case of the Massacres of El Mozote and neighboring places, para. 54.
Namely: 1. João Luiz “illegible” (or Mendonça); 2. Raimundo; 3. Antônio Pereira; 4. Hilario dos SS; 5. Claudio
Peres “illegible”; 6. Raimundo A. P. Moura; 7. José Fernandes Silva; 8. Carlos Pereira Silva; 9. Francisco “illegible”
(or Rodrigues) Souza; 10. Antônio Ribeiro; 11. Antônio “illegible” (or P.) Silva; 12. Angelo Marcio A. Silva; 13.
Antônio “Caititu”; 14. Antônio “Capixaba”; 15. Benedito Ferreira; 16. Claudeci Nunes; 17. Cosme (or Cosmi)
Rodrigues; 18. Domingos Mendes; 19. Edilson Fernandes; 20. José da Costa Oliveira; 21. Osnar (or Osmar) Ribeiro;
22. Virma Firmino di Paulo; 23. “illegible” Francisco; 24. “Índio”; 25. “Mato Grosso”, and 26. “Pará.”
215
Namely: 1. José Cano; 2. Francisco das Chagas Marques de Souza; 3. Carlos da Silva; 4. Dovalino (or Davalino)
Barbosa; 5. Edivaldo dos Santos; 6. João Monteiro; 7. Juarez Silva; 8. Luiz Barbosa; 9. Valdir Alves; 10. “Parazinho”.
216
Namely: 1. Antônio Alves in relation to Antônio Alves de Souza; 2. Antônio Renato in relation to Antônio Renato
Barros; 3. Dijalma Santos in relation to Dijalma Santos Batista; 4. Irineu in relation to Irineu Inácio da Silva; 5.
João Germano in relation to João Germano da Silva; 6. João Pereira in relation to João Pereira Marinho; 7. Joaquim
Francisco in relation to Joaquim Francisco Xavier; 8. José Carlos in relation to José Carlos Alves dos Santos; 9. José
Francisco in relation to José Francisco de Lima; 10. Manoel Alves in relation to Manoel Alves de Oliveira; 11. Pedro
P. Andrade in relation to Pedro Pereira de Andrade; 12. Raimundo Gonçalves in relation to Raimundo Gonçalves
217
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