- English
- Español
IACHR
Press Release
IACHR Takes Case Involving Peru to the Inter-American Court
June 15, 2012
Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) filed an application with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Case No. 11.845, Jeremías Osorio Rivera et al., Peru.
The facts of this case refer to the forced disappearance of Jeremías Osorio Rivera, who was detained by a Peruvian Army patrol on April 28, 1991, in the province of Cajatambo, department of Lima, without his whereabouts having been determined and without the persons responsible having been sanctioned to date. Jeremías Osorio Rivera was detained by members of the Counter-Subversive Base of Cajatambo in a context of armed conflict, in which forced disappearance was used systematically by members of the State’s security forces. The IACHR also concluded that Jeremías Osorio Rivera was the target of deliberate acts of torture during his transfer by Army personnel on April 30, 1991, and that those members of the military concealed the information on the victim’s real whereabouts and released false information on it.
After the restoration of democracy and the decision of the State to invalidate the effects of the Amnesty Laws that impeded an investigation into certain crimes committed between 1980 and 1995, the investigations into the disappearance of Jeremías Osorio were reopened and are currently before the Supreme Court of Justice. The Commission concluded that more than 20 years after the victim’s forced disappearance and with the entire truth of the incident still not known, the domestic criminal proceedings have not offered an effective resource for determining the fate of the victim or for ensuring the rights of access to justice and to the truth through the investigation and punishment of those responsible.
The case was sent to the IA Court HR on June 10, 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 Inter-American Commission recommended the State to conduct a complete, impartial, and effective investigation into the whereabouts of Jeremías Osorio Rivera and, should it be discovered that the victim is not alive, take the steps necessary for his remains to be returned to his family; to pursue the domestic procedures related to the human rights violations established in the report and discharge the criminal proceedings for the crime of forced disappearance with respect to Jeremías Osorio Rivera currently underway, in an impartial and effective fashion and within a reasonable time, in order to fully clear up the incident, identify all the guilty, and impose the corresponding penalties; to provide adequate redress for the human rights violations established in this report, covering both the material and moral aspects and including fair compensation, the establishment and dissemination of the historical truth of the incident, the necessary measures aimed to keep alive the disappeared victim’s memory, and the implementation of a suitable program of psychosocial care for his next-of-kin; to take the necessary steps to prevent similar events from occurring in the future, in accordance with the duty of prevention and the obligation of guaranteeing the fundamental rights recognized in the American Convention. In particular, implement permanent programs on human rights and international humanitarian law at the training schools of the Armed Forces; and to organize an act of public recognition of its international responsibility and extend a public apology for the violations established in this report.
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 area. 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. 68/12