bloodstained articles of clothing, were returned to his family. The petitioners claimed that since that time they have heard nothing of the whereabouts of José Luis Ibsen Peña. 15. With respect to domestic remedies, the petitioners declared that, at the time the petition was submitted to the IACHR, the investigation was still pending before the Eighth Civil Court of Instruction, after several criminal courts had declined to hear it. 16. The petitioners maintained that on April 26, 2000, they sought to join and expand the action before the Fifth Criminal Court of Instruction of Santa Cruz in the case of José Carlos Trujillo Oroza. Those proceedings related to charges of deprivation of liberty, abuse and torture brought against Juan Antonio Elio Rivero and others held responsible for the forced disappearance of José Carlos Trujillo Oroza, Rainer Ibsen Cárdenas and his father José Luis Ibsen Peña. On May 20, 2000, the Fifth Criminal Court of Instruction rejected the application for joint and expanded action, and the petitioners appealed this ruling before the First Criminal Chamber of the Superior District Court of Santa Cruz. On October 4, 2000, that Chamber revoked the ruling, and ordered expansion of the initial proceedings against Ernesto Morant Lijeron, Pedro Perey González Monasterio, Elías Moreno Caballero, Juan Antonio Elio Rivero and Justo Sarmiento Alanes on charges of murder, under Article 252 of the Criminal Code, to include the cases of Rainer Ibsen Cárdenas and his father José Luis Ibsen Peña. 17. On November 10, 2000, the Fifth Criminal Court of Instruction accepted the defense objections invoking the statute of limitations and the death of one of the defendants,2 and decided to close the case. That decision was based on the argument that, while the victims in this case had been murdered, their deaths had occurred in 1972 and 1973, and consequently the time limit for bringing criminal action had expired.3 The First Chamber of the Superior District Court of Santa Cruz confirmed the challenged ruling on January 12, 2001. 18. The petitioners reported that on July 27, 2001, the mother of José Carlos Trujillo Oroza lodged an appeal for amparo (constitutional protection) before the Second Civil Chamber of the Superior District Court of Santa Cruz, seeking to overturn the decisions of November 10, 2000, and January 12, 2001. That appeal was rejected and was subsequently submitted to the Constitutional Court for review. 19. In its judgment of November 12, 2001, the Constitutional Court accepted the appeal and revoked the ruling. Basing its decision on the findings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of Carlos Trujillo Oroza versus the Bolivian State, the Constitutional Court held that the decisions appealed failed to consider that in this case the time of the crime (murder) was not exactly established, and that the forced disappearance of persons is a permanent crime. While that decision was taken in relation to the case of José Carlos Trujillo Oroza, it also gave comfort to the Ibsen family in pursuing criminal action against the defendants. 20. The petitioners reported that, in light of they decided to lodge an appeal before the Constitutional Court ordered continuation constitutional principle of "single criminal simultaneous proceedings in the same case. the judicial impasse facing them in Santa Cruz, courts of La Paz. On November 12, 2001, the of the Santa Cruz proceedings, citing the prosecution", whereby there cannot be two 2 Rafael Loayza Law of March 25, 1999 No. 1970: Code of Criminal Procedure Article 29 (statute of limitations). Criminal action expires: 1. In 8 years for crimes punishable by maximum imprisonment of six years or more; 2. In 5 years, for crimes punishable by maximum imprisonment of between two years and six years; 3. In 3 years, for other crimes punishable by imprisonment; and 4. In 2 years for crimes not punishable by imprisonment. Article 30. (Beginning of the term to expiry). The term to expire a show begins run as of the night on the day the crime was committed or ceased. 3 3