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IACHR
Press Release
IACHR Takes Case Involving Peru to Inter-American Court
February 2, 2012
Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) filed an application with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IA Court HR) in Case No. 11.769, J, Peru. The identity of the victim in this case is kept under seal at the request of the petitioners.
The case refers to the illegal and arbitrary detention of J. and the home searches conducted on April 13, 1992 by State agents, who committed acts of torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, including rape of the victim. Following those acts, J was taken to the National Counter-Terrorism Directorate (DINCOTE) and deprived of her liberty in that place for 17 days, without judicial oversight and in inhuman detention conditions. Furthermore, the case relates to a series of violations of due process and of the principle of legality and non-retroactivity in connection with the criminal proceedings against the victim on account of alleged crimes of terrorism when Decree Law 25475 was in force. In June 1993, J. was acquitted, after which she left Peru. On December 27, 1993, the anonymous ("faceless") Supreme Court of Justice annulled the acquittal without explanation of its reasons for doing so and ordered a retrial. To this day, proceedings against J. remain pending in Peru, with an international warrant for her arrest.
The case was sent to the IA Court HR on January 4, 2012, because the Commission considered that the State had not complied with the recommendations contained in its Report on the Merits. In that report, the IACHR concluded that Peru was responsible for violating the rights to humane treatment, personal liberty, a fair trial, freedom from ex post facto laws and from retroactivity, privacy, and respect for her honor, dignity and private life, and judicial protection established in the American Convention, to the detriment of J. Furthermore, the Commission concluded that the State of Peru is responsible for violation of rights established in the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture and in the Convention to Prevent, Punish, and Eradicate Violence against Women, to the detriment of J.
A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this matter. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.
No. 11/12