I INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE 1. The case before the Court. On March 17, 2013, in accordance with Articles 51 and 61 of the Convention and Article 35 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Commission” or “the Commission”) submitted case 12.288, “Juan García Cruz and Santiago Sánchez Silvestre” against the United States of Mexico (hereinafter, “the State” or “Mexico”) to the Court. The Commission indicated that the case concerned the alleged “illegal detention and torture of Juan García Cruz and Santiago Sánchez Silvestre [in June, 1997], as well as their subsequent convictions to 3 years and 40 years imprisonment, as a consequence of two criminal trials in which [supposedly] no guarantees of due process were observed and, in particular, the [alleged] use of confessions obtained under torture and for the [supposed] failure to investigate and punish the actions denounced.” The Commission referred to the conclusions reached in its Report on Merits No. 138/11 of October 13, 2011, with respect to Mexico’s international responsibility in this case1 and indicated that the Court had jurisdiction “to reach a decision regarding the facts [included in this Report] regarding the failure to investigate the evidence of torture from December 16, 1998, as well as the consequences of this lack of investigation in the proceedings against [García Cruz and Sánchez Silvestre].” The Commission explained that it submitted the case “given the absence of substantial information on the compliance with the recommendations”2 and “the need to obtain justice for the victims.” The Commission appointed Rodrigo Escobar Gil, Commissioner, and Emilio Álvarez Icaza L., Executive Secretary, as delegates and the attorneys Elizabeth AbiMershed, Deputy Executive Secretary, and Silvia Serrano Guzmán and Isabel Madariaga of the Executive Secretariat as legal advisers. 2. Proceedings before the Inter-American Commission. The initial petition was presented before the Commission on May 10, 2000, by Servicios Legales e Investigación y Estudios Jurídicos A.C. (SLIEJ) and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL).3 The Commission approved Admissibility Report No. 80/03 on October 22, 2003,4 and on October 31, 2011, in accordance with Article 50 of the Convention, it issued the Report on Merits No. 138/11 (hereinafter the “Report on Merits” or “Report No. 138/11”), in which it reached a number of conclusions and 1 In the Report on Merits No. 138/11, the Commission concluded that the State is responsible for the violation of: the right to “personal liberty (Article 7), humane treatment (Article 5), right to a fair trial and judicial protection (Articles 8 and 25), all in relation to the general obligation to respect rights in Article 1(1) of the American Convention;” “provisions 1, 8 and 10 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture,” and “in application of the principle of iura novit curiae[,] for the violation of the obligation to adopt provisions of domestic law (Article 2) of the American Convention in connection with Article 6 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture and the obligations established in Article 1(1) of the American Convention,” all to the detriment of Messrs. Juan García Cruz and Santiago Sánchez Silvestre. Cf. Report on Merits No. 138/11, Case 12.288, Juan García Cruz and Santiago Sánchez Silvestre, October 31, 2011. Available at: http://www.oas.org/es/cidh/decisiones/corte/12.288FondoEsp.pdf 2 The Commission referred to the information and explanations provided by the State regarding its compliance with the five recommendations made in the Report on Merits and declared that this information “does not show tangible progress in the State’s substantial compliance with the recommendations.” 3 In a brief dated October 8, 2007, the victims informed the then-Executive Secretary of the Commission that, “from this date [,] in addition to SLIEJ and CEJIL, the Lawyers for Justice and Human Rights organization (AJDH for its Spanish acronym) would also be acting as a petitioner on [their] behalf.” 4 In the Report on Admissibility, the Commission “conclude[d] that it had jurisdiction to consider the merits of this case” and “decide[d] to declare the present case admissible in relation to the alleged violations of the rights of Messrs. Juan García Cruz and Santiago Sánchez Silvestre, protected under Articles 5, 7, 8 and 25 of the American Convention in connection with Article 1(1) of that international instrument; as well as in Articles 1, 6, 8 and 10 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture.” Cf. Report on Admissibility No. 80/03, Case 12.288, Juan García Cruz and Santiago Sánchez Silvestre, Mexico, October 22, 2003, (file on the proceedings before the Commission, pages 914 to 923). 3