Inter-American Court of Human Rights Rules Against Peru in Case of Disappeared Villagers (November 13, 2015) [1]
On November 13, 2015, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Court) published a decision [3] (only available in Spanish) it had ruled on in September, finding that Peru had violated the American Convention of Human Rights [4] (Convention) by forcefully disappearing fifteen villagers in 1991. The case concerned the Peruvian military’s arrest of fifteen people, including children, and their transport to an abandoned mine. The villagers were executed and their bodies destroyed by explosive charges that were detonated inside the mine. The Court determined that the state refused to recognize the arrests and disclose what had happened to the victims in order to intimidate the public. The Court found that Peru had violated Articles 7 (right to personal liberty), 5 (right to humane treatment), 4 (right to life), and 3 (right to juridical protection). The Court further found that Peru had violated Articles I and II of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons [5]. The Court also ruled that Peru had failed its due diligence obligations to investigate the facts of these cases and had hindered investigations by destroying evidence and failing to provide information on military operations and applying an amnesty law, which had effectively closed the cases. After civil litigation had been instituted, the state had continued its resistance to collaborate in the judicial process, failing to pursue and locate fugitives and delaying the disclosing of facts and the location of victims. Because of these failures to diligently participate in the judicial process, the Court found Peru had also violated Article 8 (right to a fair trial) of the Convention.