6
representatives, and the other two proposed by the representatives; b) four
witnesses; one proposed jointly by the Commission and representatives, one
proposed by the representatives, and the other two by the State; c) the expert
reports of two experts; one proposed by the Commission, one by the State, as
well as; d) the final oral arguments of the parties on the preliminary objections
and eventual merits, reparations, and costs.7
7.
The public hearing was held on May 20 and 21, 2010, during the LXXXVII
Ordinary Period of Sessions of the Court, held at the seat of the Court.8
8.
On the other hand, the Court received eight amicus curiae briefs from the
following persons and institutions:9 a) Open Society Justice Initiative,
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Open Democracy Advice Centre and
South African History Initiative, in relation with the right to truth and access to
information;10 b) Grupo de Investigación de Derechos Humanos en la Amazonía
[Human Rights Investigation Group in the Amazon], in regard to the Amnesty
Law;11 c) Order of Attorneys of Brazil, section of Rio de Janeiro, on inter alia, the
effects of the eventual condemnatory judgment of the Inter-American Court and
the decision issued in the Arguicão de Descumprimento de Preceito Fundamental
No. 153 (Non-compliance Action of the Fundamental Principle No. 153)
(hereinafter, Non-compliance Action of the Fundamental Principle No. 153” or
“Non-compliance Action No. 153”);12 d) the Grupo de Ensino, Pesquisa e
7
Cf. Case of Gomes Lund et al. (“Guerrilha do Araguaia”) v. Brazil. Summons to a Public
Hearing, supra note 6, Operative Paragraph 4.
8
At this hearing, the following were present: a) for the Inter-American Commission: Felipe
González, Commissioner; Santiago Canton, Executive Secretary; Catalina Botero, Special Rapporteur
for Freedom of Expression, and Lilly Ching Soto, Leonardo Hidaka, and Alejandra Negrete, legal
assistants; b) by the representatives: Viviana Krsticevic, Beatriz Affonso, and Helena Rocha, of CEJIL,
and Victoria Lavínia Grabois Olímpio, of the Group on Torture Never Again of Rio de Janeiro, and c) for
the State: Hildebrando Tadeu Nascimento Valadares, Ambassador of Brazil in Costa Rica; Gláucia
Silveira Gauch, Carlos Eduardo da Cunha Oliveira, Camilla Serrano Giunchetti, Mauricio Candeloro,
Rodrigo Wanderley Lima, and Francisco Samuel Barzotto of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Cristina
Timponi Cambiaghi and Bartira Meira Ramos Nagado, of the Human Rights Secretariat of the
Presidency of the Republic; Sérgio Ramos de Matos Brito, and Ana Claudia de Sousa Freitas, of the
Attorney General of the Union; Mauro Almeida Noleto, of the Ministry of Justice; Paulo Massi Dallari, of
the Civil House; Celia Cristina Whitaker, of the Special Secretariat on Human Rights of the Municipality
of São Paulo; Bruno Correia Cardoso, of the Ministry of Defense; Gerson Menandro, of the Brazilian
Army; Miguel Alejandro Gutiérrez Pizarro, of the Brazilian Embassy in Costa Rica, and Manoel Lauro
Volkmer de Castilho, assistant. Before the celebration of such public hearing, on May 6, 2010, Brazil
requested, inter alia, to postpone the public hearing for the next period of sessions of the Court, and
to divide the hearing into two parts, one for the preliminary objections, and the other for the merits.
Alternatively, in the case that such request would not be admitted, the State requested that the public
hearing called for May 20 and May 21, 2010, only be for preliminary objections. After considering the
observations of the Commission and of the representatives, the Court did not admit the request of the
State (case file on the merits, tome VI, folios 2709 and 2710).
9
The Court received other briefs that were time-barred or were not useful or related to the
objective of the present case, and as such, they are not admitted nor mentioned in the present
judgment.
10
The brief was received by the Secretariat of the Court on June 7, 2010, and is signed by
James A. Goldston and Darian K. Pavli of the Open Society Justice Initiative; Maja Daruwala of
Common Wealth Human Rights Initiative; Alison Tilley of the Open Democracy Advice Centre, and
Catherine Kennedy of the South African History Archive. The copies of said brief in its English and
Spanish versions were received on June 3 and 4, 2010, respectively, while the Portuguese version was
received on July 12, 2010.
11
The brief and its annexes were received by the Secretariat of the Court on June 4, 2010. The
brief is signed by Sílvia Maria da Silveira Loureiro and Jamilly Izabela de Brito Silva.
12
The brief and its annexes were received by the Secretariat of the Court on June 10, 2010,
and is signed by Guilherme Peres de Oliveira, Ronaldo Cramer, and Wadih Damous. A copy of said
brief was received on June 4, 2010.