INTER - AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS COMISION INTERAMERICANA DE DERECHOS HUMANOS COMISSÃO INTERAMERICANA DE DIREITOS HUMANOS COMMISSION INTERAMÉRICAINE DES DROITS DE L'HOMME ORGANIZACIÓN DE LOS ESTADOS AMERICANOS WASHINGTON, D.C. 2 0 0 0 6 EEUU February 13, 2014 Ref.: Case No. 12.679 José Agapito Ruano Torres y familia El Salvador Señor Secretario: The instant case involves several violations of the American Convention to the detriment of José Agapito Ruano Torres and the effects of said violations on his family. Mr. Ruano Torres was deprived of his liberty in the early hours of the morning of October 17, 2000, while being mistreated in front of his son. The Commission concluded that the physical and verbal mistreatment constituted torture. Subsequently, Mr. Ruano Torres was criminally tried and convicted in violation of the minimum requirements of his due process rights. Mr. Ruano Torres is currently continuing to serve his sentence. Specifically, Mr. Ruano Torres was convicted without the minimum steps being taken to verify his identity as the person who was actually accused of committing the crime. Additionally, the only two pieces of evidence upon which the conviction was based were gathered by using several irregular methods. Regarding these aspects, the Commission concluded that the State violated the right to the presumption of innocence. The Commission also found that the failure of the Office of the Public Defender to adequately perform its duties amounted to a violation of the right to a defense. In the view of the Commission, the sentence of deprivation of liberty he is serving as a result of the conviction, which was handed down in violation of said fair trial rights, was and continues to be arbitrary. The Commission also found that the State did not provide effective remedies either to investigate the torture inflicted upon the victim, protect him from due process violations, or to review the deprivation of liberty. The Salvadoran State ratified the American Convention on Human Rights on June 23, 1978 and accepted the jurisdiction of the Court on June 6, 1995. Señor Pablo Saavedra Alessandri, Secretario Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos Apartado 6906-1000 San José, Costa Rica Anexos La Comisión ha designado a la Comisionada Rosa María Ortiz y al Secretario Ejecutivo Emilio Álvarez Icaza L. como sus delegados. Asimismo, Elizabeth Abi-Mershed, Secretaria Ejecutiva Adjunta, y Silvia Serrano Guzmán y Erick Acuña Pereda, abogada/o de la Secretaría Ejecutiva de la CIDH, actuarán como asesora/r legales.