9
19.
With respect to the investigation of the facts that gave rise to adoption of the
urgent measures, in said briefs (supra Having Seen 6 and 7) the State referred to
the investigation regarding what happened on March 1, 2004 to Janeth Carrasquilla,
a journalist for Globovisión. According to the State, the process is in a “state of
investigation” by the Third Prosecutor of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Judicial
Circumscription of the State of Carabobo and “several witnesses of the facts and the
aforementioned victim have been interviewed, and a forensic medical examination of
the latter was ordered.” In one of its communications on September 3, 2004 (supra
Having Seen 7) the State indicated that “the investigation with respect to the instant
case is in the investigative phase, in the course of which various useful and
necessary steps have been taken to extend elucidation of the facts and to establish
liabilities[...,] especially the interviews with the complainants and approximately
forty (forty) citizens[,…] forensic medical examinations of the victims, technical
expert assessment of objects gathered, photographic records, and ocular
inspections.” Finally, the State indicated that on May 21, 2004, the Sixty-eighth
Prosecutor asked Globovisión to forward a “list of the transport units serving said
company that suffered material damage in the events reported to the Second and
Seventy-fourth Prosecutors of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Judicial
Circumscription of the Metropolitan Area of Caracas.”
20.
The Court has appraised and taken into account the information submitted by
the State in its August 30, 2004 brief and in the report submitted in the two briefs
sent on September 3, 2004. The three aforementioned briefs were also forwarded to
the Commission and to the representatives, who may make whatever comments
they deem pertinent, and the Court will assess them at the appropriate time.
However, the Court has noted that in said briefs (supra Having Seen 6 and 7) the
State did not refer to the development of implementation of the aforementioned
measures to protect the lives, safety, and freedom of expression, and to protect the
head offices of Globovisión, and did not state whether they have been effective to
protect said rights, or whether the representatives have been allowed to participate
in the implementation of those measures.
21.
The provision set forth in Article 63(2) of the Convention makes it mandatory
for the State to adopt the provisional measures ordered by this Court, since
according to the basic legal principle of the international responsibility of the State,
backed by international jurisprudence, the States must comply in good faith with
their treaty obligations (pacta sunt servanda).
22.
The State has the obligation to investigate the facts that gave rise to these
provisional measures, with the aim of identifying those responsible and punishing
them as appropriate.
NOW THEREFORE:
THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS,
exercising the authority granted by Article 63(2) of the American Convention on
Human Rights and Article 25 of its Rules of Procedure,
DECIDES:
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