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Case Nº 1757Bolivia Case
Nº 1757. By a communication dated November 18, 1972, the following
denunciation was made: That
repressive measures were being taken in the Republic of Bolivia, and had
been extended to various sectors of the population, and that many women
had been interned in concentration camps and prisons where they had been
tortured. That
a group of Bolivians had written to the International Red Cross, which,
according to information obtained by the complainant, had sent a
commission to Bolivia to investigate the situation obtaining in
Achocalla, where 3 women had denounced the tortures they had suffered. That,
as soon as the investigating commission left, the above mentioned women
had been taken away from Achocalla and nothing more had been heard of
them and it was feared that they were being tortured in another place
and had been murdered. That
27 persons had been arrested and not brought to trial. A list of the
names of the persons arrested was attached. In
a note dated January 3, 1973 the Commission requested the Government of
Bolivia to provide the pertinent information, pursuant to Article 42 and
44 of its Rules of Procedure. The
Delegation of Bolivia to the Permanent Council, in a note dated January
15, 1973, replied to the Commission, stating that the competent
authorities would provide the information requested. In
view of the foregoing and in accordance with the recommendation of the
Subcommittee, the Commission decided, at its thirtieth session (April
1973), to send a note to the Government of Bolivia, stating that it
hoped to receive the information offered in due time for its
consideration at its thirty-first session. In
accordance with this decision, the Commission sent a note to the
Government of Bolivia on June 15, 1973. At
its thirty-first session (October 1973) the Commission examined this
case in the light of the fact that the Government of Bolivia had not
provided the information it had offered and that the time-limit
established in Article 51 of the Rules of Procedure for the provision of
such information had expired and appointed Dr. Carlos A. Dunshee de
Abranches rapporteur to prepare a draft resolution pursuant to Articles
51 and 52 of the Rules of Procedure. The
rapporteur submitted a draft in accordance with which the Commission, at
that session, unanimously approved the following resolution
(OEA/Ser.L/VII.31, doc.35 rev. l, October 24, 1973): WHEREAS: On
November 18, 1972 the Commission received a communication in which the
following acts were imputed to the authorities of Bolivia: The
arrest in Achocalla of Amalia Rada, Aida Pechazas (or Pedrazas) and Elsa
Burgoa de Zapata, who had denounced to the International Red Cross the
practice of tortures, and who had disappeared after an investigating
committee left Achocalla; The
arrest "without any kind of legal and democratic trial" of the
following persons: María Luisa Bonadona de Quiroga as well as her
husband and son; Edmy Alvarez Daza, a leader of the Central Obrera
Boliviana; Nelvi Navia de Chávez; Blanca Henrich Araoz, confined in the
Hospital de Clínicas; Carmen Arratia de Roca and her husband; Rosa de
Egüez; Mery Fernández Negrete, Nelli Fernández Negrete, Betty Catoira
Moreno; Nena Menacho; Mery Alvarado; Rina Tapia de Gúzman and her
husband; Dora Higueras del Barco; Sofía de Méndez Tejada; Nancy Olguín;
Elba Figueroa; Susana Caro; Fanny Antezana; Ronnie Grebe; N. Bartelemi;
Emma de Bacárrez, leader of the La Paz teachers; Nadezda and Alexandra
Bravo, sisters arrested in order to have them reveal the whereabouts of
their mother, Elsa de Bravo, representative of the teachers of La Paz in
the Central Departmental, and Agar Peñaranda. Those
acts, if true, would constitute violations of Articles I, XVIII, XXV and
XXVI of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man,
applying to the case the provisions of article 9 (bis) of the Statute of
the IACHR and the procedure governed by articles 37 through 57 of the
Regulations; On
January 2, 1973, the information covered for in articles 42 and 44 of
the Regulations was requested of the Government of Bolivia, and in his
reply dated the 15th of that same month the Representative of that
country to the OAS stated: "In reality, it is the authorities of my
country who are the ones who will reply to your requests. However, I
judge it my duty to inform you that many of the names that appear on
that list are those of women known for their work of agitation, of frank
rebellion against legal provisions, against the security of the state
and against the tranquillity of the citizenry in general. I am sure that
you are aware that extremists, whether men or women, when they act to
achieve their purposes, do so outside the law, that is to say,
disregarding it, but when they fall into the power of the authorities
the first thing they invoke is the law, that law that they themselves
deny and break when they kidnap, assault, destroy, rob and kill; "The
Bolivian authorities use, as is done is any country, the means that the
law authorizes to them to investigate the details they need and, on the
basis of the guilt of each one, to impose on him the corresponding
penalty or to set him free. These inquiries, since they are part of a
major investigation, take time, which does not in any manner mean
repression"; On
June 15, 1973 the IACHR informed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Bolivia that it had decided to postpone consideration of the case until
the following October, when it hoped to have available the reports
offered, thus repeating the request under the Regulations; However,
the government did not provide the information offered and according to
article 51, if the information is not supplied within 180 days the
occurrence of the events denounced will be presumed to be confirmed; That
period having elapsed, it is proper to apply article 51 since the other
evidence available to the Commission does not at contradict the
denunciation. On the contrary, the file includes reports that the
Association of Journalists, the Bar Association and the Commission on
Peace and Justice of Bolivia confirmed the arrest of numerous persons
for political reasons, among whom there were 30 women, who had not yet
been brought to trial; and Finally,
the Bolivian government, in its reply to the IACHR, did not make any
objection with respect to the requirement of exhaustion of the internal
legal procedures and remedies, as would have been normal for it to do if
any request for a writ of habeas corpus or other procedures
referred to in subparagraph d) of article 9 (bis) of the Statute of the
Commission had been pending, THE
INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, RESOLVES: 1.
To presume the occurrence of the events denounced to be
confirmed, in application of article 51 of the Regulations. 2.
To recommend to the Government of Bolivia that: a) it adopt the
measures necessary so that violations of the right of protection from
arbitrary arrest and the right to due process of law in relation to the
persons whose names appear above will immediately cease; and b) that it
order an investigation by the competent authorities to determine the
fate of Amalia Rada, Aida Pechazas, and Elsa Burgoa de Zapata, who were
arrested in Achocalla in November 1972, in case they have not yet been
released. 3.
To request of the same government that it inform the Commission,
within 30 days, about the implementation of the measures indicated in
operative paragraph 2, above. 4.
If the information indicated in operative paragraph 3 is not
supplied, to include the case in the annual report to the General
Assembly, in accordance with Article 57 of the Regulations. This
resolution was communicated to the Government of Bolivia in a note dated
December 19, 1973. A copy of this note and of the resolution was
transmitted to the Delegation of Bolivia to the Permanent Council of the
Organization on December 20, 1973. At
the thirty-second session (April 1974), the Commission continued its
examination of this case, noting that the Government of Bolivia had not
provided information on the adoption of the measures recommended in the
Resolution of October 24. Consequently, in accordance with the
provisions of that Resolution, it decided to include this case, with the
appropriate observations, in the annual report to the General Assembly
of the Organization. In
compliance with that decision, the Commission, at that session,
unanimously approved the following resolution (OEA/Ser.L/V/II.32,
doc.34, April 10, 1974): THE
INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, HAVING
SEEN the resolution on case 1757 (doc.35-31) approved at its thirty
first meeting, in which it was decided: 1.
To presume the occurrence of the events denounced to be
confirmed, in application of Article 51 of the Regulations. To
recommend to the Government of Bolivia that: a) it adopt the measures
necessary so that violations of the right of protection from arbitrary
arrest and the right to due process of law in relation to the persons
whose names appear above will immediately cease; and b) that it order an
investigation by the competent authorities to determine the fate of
Amalia Rada, Aida Pechazas, and Elsa Burgoa de Zapata, who were arrested
in Achocalla in November 1972, in case they have not yet been released. To
request of the same government that it inform the Commission, within 30
days, about the implementation of the measures indicated in operative
paragraph 2, above. If
the information indicated in operative paragraph 3 is not supplied, to
include the case in the annual report to the General Assembly, in
accordance with Article 57 of the Regulations, and CONSIDERING: That
the Government of Bolivia has not supplied the information requested in
that resolution, RESOLVES: 1.
To communicate to the Government of Bolivia the Commission's
observation that such events constitute serious violations of the right
to life, to freedom; of the right to Justice; of the right to protection
from arbitrary arrest and of the right to due process of law, as
established in Articles I, XVIII, XXV And XXVI of the American
Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. 2.
To include this resolution in its annual report to the General
Assembly of the Organization, in accordance with Article 9 (bis),
paragraph c, iii of its Statutes and Article 57 of the
Regulations. This
decision was communicated to the Government of Bolivia in note dated
June 3, 1974.
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