the Court may be informed of these during its next regular session which will take place
Sep-tember 11 to 22, 1995.
3.
On September 6, 1995, the Government of the Republic of Guatemala
(hereinafter "the Government") presented the Inter-American Court with the
requested report, dated the 4th of the same month. In this report, the Government
stated that it adopted precautionary measures on behalf of Mr. Justo Martínez on
June 2, 1995 and communicated these to the Commission and later reported them
again on August 29 and that no "case of extreme urgency" exists while the
Government "has complied within the indicated time limit . . . agreeing to all
measures necessary to safeguard the life and physical integrity of Mr. Justo Martínez
and his family." Also, the mentioned report states that Mr. Martínez denied having
received threats or attacks against his person or his family and would not agree to
any measure for personal safety. For this reason, the National Police of
Huehuetenango offered to guard his residence with a night patrol after 8:00 pm, to
which he agreed.
4.
On September 21, 1995, the Inter-American Commission sent the Court its
observations on the report presented by the Government dated September 4 of this
same year. The Commission reiterated that a situation of extreme urgency exists,
that Mr. Justo Martínez had been the object of "death threats for having informed
officials from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala about the way in which, as best he
could determine, Mr. Blake had been assassinated and about the members of the
patrols that participated in his kidnapping and death." The Commission pointed out
that these threats, which extend to Mr. Martínez's relatives, "are part of a systematic
practice . . . of the security forces of Guatemala against witnesses in cases of serious
human rights abuses and violations."
CONSIDERING:
1.
That Guatemala is a State Party to the American Convention on Human
Rights whose Article 1(1) indicates the duty of States Parties to respect the rights
and freedoms recognized in this Treaty and to guarantee the free and full exercise of
those rights to any person under their jurisdiction;
2.
That on March 9, 1987, Guatemala recognized the jurisdiction of this Court, in
accordance with Article 62 of the American Convention on Human Rights;
3.
That the Government has declared to the Court that it has "offered all
measures necessary to safeguard the life and physical integrity of Mr. Justo Martínez
and his family;"
4.
That the Commission requests that this Tribunal approve provisional
measures in this present case, given that "the reasons that motivated the request
made by the Commission on August 11, 1995 continue to exist;"
5.
That the case known as the Blake Case is presently before the Court, and it is
the duty of this Court to avoid irreparable harm to persons, which is understood to
include guarding the complete security of witnesses and their relatives and
determining whether the measures adopted by the Government have been sufficient.
THEREFORE: