15
the criminal situation of the members of the military detachments in
which Mr. Bámaca Velásquez had been detained in 1992. Said acts
should be based on the precision of codes and institutional units as well
as on the corresponding line of command.24 The Court also issued a
ruling on different measures to promote the participation of victims, the
protection of witnesses, and legal officials, among other aspects.25
It is important to emphasize that the representatives indicated
that the State has not fully complied with any of the specific information
requests made by the Court in the Order of January 27, 2009 (supra
Considering Clause 22). A first step to assess the effectiveness of the
investigations is having more specific information on these matters;
therefore, the Court reiterates the information requests once again and
regrets that the State’s reports have not provided more documentation
on the requests.
31.
Conclusion of the Court
The Court considers that the previously explained information
leads to the conclusion that the decisions adopted by the Public
Prosecutors’ Office –by requesting the annulment of the dismissal from
1999– and, firstly, by the Supreme Court –by accepting said request–
clearly constitutes an initial step towards complying with the Court’s
orders. These decisions that aim to reopen the dismissed investigation
are an application of the pacta sunt servanda principle, which
guarantees the appropriate effet utile for the stipulations of a treaty
within the domestic legislation of the States Parties.26 Despite the fact
that the Tribunal considers that many more acts from the judiciary to be
necessary to eliminate impunity in the present case, the decisions of the
Public Prosecutors’ Office and the Supreme Court to promote the
investigation are consistent with the Court’s constant jurisprudence in
the sense that:
32.
24
Cf. Case of Bámaca Velásquez v. Guatemala, supra note 18, Considering Clause thirty-four.
Cf. Case of Bámaca Velásquez v. Guatemala, supra note 18, Considering Clauses thirty-six and
thirty-seven.
26
Cf. Case of Benavides Cevallos v. Ecuador. Monitoring Compliance with Judgment. Order of the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights of November 27, 2003, Considering Clause twelve; Case of Cantoral
Benavides v. Peru. Monitoring Compliance with Judgment. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human
Rights of November 27, 2003, Considering Clause seventeen, and Case of Cantoral Benavides v. Perú.
Monitoring Compliance with Judgment. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of November 17,
2004, Considering Clause seventeen.
25