Military jurisdiction and international law Military courts and gross human rights violations [vol.1] INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS COLOMBIAN COMMISSION OF JURISTS . Index Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................ 8 Part I Military Jurisdiction and International Law Section I. The General Legal Framework ........................................................................................ 17 1. International Law and Military Jurisdiction ........................................................... 17 2. The State's Duty of Guarantee ..................................................................................................... 20 3. The Administration of Justice ...................................................................................................... 26 4. The Right to Judicial Protection or the Right to Justice ....................... 29 5. The Obligation to Investigate ....................................................................................................... 33 6. The Obligation to Prosecute and Punish ...................................................................... 39 7. The Right to Reparation ........................................................................................................................ 46 8. The Right to the Truth ............................................................................................................................. 47 9. Impunity ........................................................................................................................................................................ 51 10. Military Jurisdiction .................................................................................................................................... 56 Section II. International Jurisprudence and Doctrine on Human Rights 61 A. The Universal System of Human Rights Protection .................................. 61 1. Human Rights Treaty Monitoring Bodies ......................................................... 61 1.1 The Human Rights Committee ........................................................................... 61 1.2 The Committee against Torture ......................................................................... 69 1.3 The Committee on the Rights of the Child ....................................... 71 2. The Commission on Human Rights ............................................................................ 72 2.1 The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions ..................................................................................................... 72 2.2 The Special Rapporteur on Torture .............................................................. 82 2.3 The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances ............................................................................................................................ 90 6 Military Jurisdiction and International Law 2.4 The Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.......................................................................................................... 92 2.5 The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ................................... 95 2.6 The Special Representative on the situation of human rights defenders......................................... 96 2.7 Country Mechanisms ........................................................................................................... 97 2.7.1 Guatemala .......................................................................................................................... 97 2.7.2 Equatorial Guinea.................................................................................................... 99 2.7.3 Somalia .................................................................................................................................. 101 3. The Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights ...................................................................................... 101 3.1 The Special Rapporteur on human rights and states of emergency ................................................................................................. 102 3.2 Experts on the impunity of perpetrators of human rights violations .......................................................................................... 103 3.3 The Expert on the right to reparation ........................................................ 105 3.4 Special Rapporteurs on the right to a fair trial .............................. 105 3.5 Special Rapporteur on the independence and impartiality of the judiciary ........................................................................ 106 3.6 The Sessional Working Group on the Administration of Justice ....................................................................... 106 4. Other Mechanisms ................................................................................................................................ 107 4.1 ONUSAL ............................................................................................................................................... 107 4.2 MINUGUA ....................................................................................................................................... 108 4.3 OFACONU .................................................................................................................................................. 108 B. The European System of Human Rights Protection .................................... 110 C. The Inter-American System of Human Rights Protection .................. 113 1. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ................................................ 114 1.1 Military jurisdiction and human rights violations committed by military personnel ..................................................................... 114 1.2 Military jurisdiction and civilians .................................................................. 118 Index 7 2. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights .......................... 121 2.1 General Considerations .................................................................................................. 121 2.2 Military jurisdiction and human rights violations committed by military personnel ..................................................................... 126 a. Brazil ................................................................................................................................................... 127 b. Colombia ....................................................................................................................................... 128 c. Chile ..................................................................................................................................................... 131 d. Ecuador ............................................................................................................................................ 135 e. Guatemala .................................................................................................................................... 136 f. Paraguay .......................................................................................................................................... 137 g. Peru ........................................................................................................................................................ 138 h. Suriname ........................................................................................................................................ 140 2.3 Jurisprudence developed by the Commission .............................. 141 Part II Military Jurisdiction and National Law Section I. General Observations ...................................................................................................................... 153 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................. 153 2. The difficulties in classifying military courts .......................................................... 154 3. Developing trends .............................................................................................................................................. 158 4. Constitutions and military justice .............................................................................................. 164 Section II. Military Jurisdiction and Domestic Legislation ................................... 169 1. Argentina ........................................................................................................................................................................ 169 2. Austria ................................................................................................................................................................................ 180 3. Belgium ............................................................................................................................................................................. 181 4. Cameroon ....................................................................................................................................................................... 185 5. Canada