1 Inter-American Court of Human Rights Case Of
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1 INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS CASE OF CABRERA GARCIA AND MONTIEL FLORES V. MEXICO JUDGMENT OF NOVEMBER 26, 2010 (Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Legal Costs) In the Case of Cabrera Garcia and Montiel Flores, The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter, the "Inter-American Court", the "Court" or the "Tribunal"), composed of the following judges: Diego García-Sayán, President; Leonardo A. Franco, Vice-President; Manuel E. Ventura Robles, Judge; Margarette May Macaulay, Judge; Rhadys Abreu-Blondet, Judge; Alberto Pérez Pérez, Judge; Eduardo Vio Grossi, Judge and Eduardo Ferrer Mac-Gregor Poisot, ad hoc Judge; Also present: Pablo Saavedra Alessandri, Secretary and, Emilia Segares Rodríguez, Deputy Secretary, Pursuant to Articles 62(3) and 63(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter, the “Convention” or the “American Convention”) and Articles 30, 32, 38, 56, 57, 58 and 61 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure1 (hereinafter, the “Rules of Procedure”) delivers this Judgment, which is organized in the following way: 1 According to the terms of article 79.1 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure that entered into force on January 1, 2010, "[c]ontentious cases which have been submitted for the consideration of the Court before January 1, 2010, will continue to be processed, until the issuance of a judgment, in accordance to the previous Rules of Procedure". Thus, the Court’s Rules of Procedure applied to this case corresponds to the instrument approved by the Tribunal in its XLIX Regular Period of Sessions held from November 16 to 25, 2000, partially amended by the Court in its LXXXII Regular Period of Sessions, held from January 19 to 31, 2009, and which was in force from March 24, 2009 until January 1, 2010. 2 I. INTRODUCTION OF THE CASE AND PURPOSE OF THE APPLICATION paras. 1-6 II. PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COURT paras. 7-11 III. PRELIMINARY OBJECTION OF THE “FOURTH INSTANCE RULE” paras. 12-22 IV. JURISDICTION para. 23 V. EVIDENCE para. 24 1. Witness and Expert Witness Evidence paras. 25-26 2. Admission of Documentary Evidence paras. 27-36 3. Evaluation of depositions by the alleged victims, witness and expert witness evidence paras. 37-48 4. Considerations on the alleged “supervening evidence” paras. 49-51 VI. PRIOR CONSIDERATIONS 1. Facts that were not included in the Commission's application paras. 52-60 2. Alleged contextual facts paras. 61-65 VII. RIGHT TO PERSONAL LIBERTY IN RELATION TO THE OBLIGATIONS TO RESPECT AND GUARANTEE RIGHTS 1. General description of the processes and jurisdictional levels that assessed the facts in the para. 66 domestic sphere 1.1. Non-disputed facts related to the arrest of Messrs. Cabrera and Montiel paras. 67-68 1.2. Judicial proceeding that led to the conviction of Messrs. Cabrera and Montiel paras. 69-70 1.3. Applications for amparo relief filed by Messrs. Cabrera and Montiel against the decision paras. 71-73 of the First Unitary Tribunal 1.4. Investigation initiated due to the claims regarding acts of torture against the alleged paras. 74-76 victims. Actions of the Military Public Prosecutor’s Office and the National Commission on Human Rights 2. Alleged violation of the right to personal security paras. 77-89 3. Lack of prompt remittance to a judge or other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial paras. 90-102 power 4. Alleged lack of information on the reasons for the detention and of notification, without paras. 103-106 delay, of the charge or charges filed VIII. RIGHT TO HUMANE TREATMENT [PERSONAL INTEGRITY] IN RELATION TO paras. 107-110 THE OBLIGATIONS TO RESPECT AND GUARANTEE RIGHTS AND THE OBLIGATIONS CONTAINED IN THE INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION TO PREVENT AND PUNISH TORTURE 1. Proven Facts 1.1 Statements made by the alleged victims paras. 111-113 1.2 Medical certificates in the case file paras. 114-120 1.3 Expert opinions specifically aimed to verify the alleged acts of torture paras. 121-125 2. Obligation to investigate the alleged acts of torture paras. 126-132 3. Legal classification paras. 133-137 IX. RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL [JUDICIAL GUARANTEES] AND RIGHT TO JUDICIAL paras. 138-151 PROTECTION, IN RELATION TO THE OBLIGATION TO RESPECT AND GUARANTEE RIGHTS AND DOMESTIC LEGAL EFFECTS AND THE OBLIGATIONS EMBODIED IN THE INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION TO PREVENT AND PUNISH TORTURE A. Criminal proceedings conducted against Messrs. Cabrera and Montiel 1. Right to defense paras. 152-162 2. Exclusion of evidence obtained under duress paras. 163-177 3. Presumption of innocence principle paras. 178-186 B. Criminal proceedings to investigate the alleged torture of Messrs. Cabrera and Montiel paras. 187-189 1. Ex oficio investigation before regular courts paras. 190-193 2. Military criminal justice jurisdiction paras. 194-201 3. Effective judicial remedy in the military criminal justice jurisdiction paras. 202-204 3 4. Adapting the Mexican domestic law regarding the intervention of the military criminal paras. 205-207 courts X. REPARATIONS paras. 208-210 A. Injured Party paras. 211-212 B. Obligation to investigate the facts and identify, judge and, if corresponding, punish those paras. 213-215 responsible C. Measures for satisfaction, rehabilitation, and guarantees of non-repetition c.1 Measures for satisfaction i) Publication of the Judgment paras. 216-217 c.2 Measures for rehabilitation i) Medical and psychological care paras. 218-221 ii) Deleting the victims’ names from all criminal records paras. 222-223 c.3 Guarantees of Non-Repetition i) Adapting domestic law to international standards regarding justice paras. 224-235 ii) Adapting domestic law to international standards regarding torture para. 236 iii) Adopting a mechanism for a public and accessible registry of detainees paras. 237-243 iv) Training programs for civil servants paras. 244-245 v) Other measures requested paras. 246-247 E. Compensatory damages D.1 Pecuniary damage paras. 248-254 D.2. Non-pecuniary damage paras. 255-261 E. Legal Costs and Expenses paras. 262-267 F. Method of compliance with the payments ordered paras. 268-273 XI. OPERATIVE PARAGRAPHS para. 274 Concurring opinion of Eduardo Ferrer Mac-Gregor Poisot, ad hoc Judge 4 I INTRODUCTION OF THE CASE AND PURPOSE OF THE APPLICATION 1. On June 24, 2009 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter the “Inter-American Commission” or the “Commission”) filed a claim against the United States of Mexico (hereinafter the “State”, the “Mexican State” or “Mexico”), pursuant to articles 51 and 61 of the Convention, in relation to case 12.449. The initial petition was submitted to the Commission on October 25, 2001 by Ubalda Cortés Salgado, Ventura López and the following organizations: Sierra Club, Greenpeace International, Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez – PRODH (Center for Human Rights Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez - PRODH) and Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL). On February 27, 2004 the Commission adopted Report 11/04 whereby the case was declared admitted.2 On October 30, 2008 the Commission approved Report on Merits 88/08, prepared according to article 50 of the Convention.3 After considering that Mexico had not adopted the recommendations included in such report, the Commission decided to submit this case to the Court’s jurisdiction. The Commission appointed the following delegates: Messrs. Florentín Meléndez, Commissioner, and Santiago A. Cantón, Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission, and the following legal advisors: Elizabeth Abi-Mershed, Assistant Executive Secretary, and Isabel Madariaga, Juan Pablo Albán Alencastro, and Marisol Blanchard, specialists at the Executive Secretariat. 2. The claim is related to the alleged responsibility by the State for subjecting Messrs. Teodoro Cabrera García and Rodolfo Montiel Flores (hereinafter Messrs. “Cabrera García” and “Montiel Flores” or “Messrs. Cabrera and Montiel”) “to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, while detained and under the custody of members of the Mexican army, for their non-appearance without delay before a judge or any other official authorized to carry out judicial functions in order to control the legality of their detention, and for the irregular procedures during the criminal proceedings against them.” Furthermore, the claim refers to the alleged lack of due diligence in the investigation and punishment of those responsible for the facts, the lack of adequate investigation into the alleged torture, and the use of military privileges to investigate and judge human rights violations. The detention of Messrs. Cabrera and Montiel took place on May 2, 1999. 3. The Commission requested the Court to declare that the Mexican State is responsible for the violation of the rights under articles 5(1) and 5(2) (Humane Treatment), 7(5) (Personal Liberty), 8(1), 8(2)(g), 8(3) (Fair Trial) and 25 (Judicial Protection) of the American Convention; for default in complying with the general 2 In the Report of Admissibility N° 11/04, the Commission declared the case admissible with respect to alleged violations of the rights recognized in “Articles 5, 7, 8 and 25 of the American Convention, taken in connection with Article 1(1) of that international instrument, and Articles 1, 6, 8 and 10 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture" (record of annexes to the application, volume I, annex 2, folio 93). 3 In the Report on the Merits N° 88/08, the Commission concluded that the State has failed to comply with the obligations derived from articles 7 (Right to Personal Liberty), 5 (Right to Humane Treatment [Personal Integrity]), 8 and 25 (Right to a Fair Trial [Judicial Guarantees] and to Judicial Protection) of the American Convention, as well as articles 1, 8 and 10 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture, all this within the general obligation to respect rights (Article 1(1) of the American Convention).