|
Case 1967 Uruguay WHEREAS: In
communications dated August 5 and 16, 1975, it was denounced that a
young man, Alvaro Balbi, had died in prison; The
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, in a note dated August 8,
1975, transmitted the pertinent parts of the denunciation to the
Government of Uruguay and requested that it provide the appropriate
information; Not
having received a response from that Government, the Commission repeated
its request for information by a note dated October 14, 1975; The
IACHR, at its 36th session, decided to forward to the
Government the pertinent parts of additional information provided by the
claimant; The
Commission, in a note dated December 1, 1975, transmitted to the
Government of Uruguay the pertinent parts of that additional
information: Alvaro
Balbi, office worker, 30 years of age, married, and father of four
children. He was arrested by the police on July 29, 1975, together with
the other participants in a meeting (to which reference will be made in
the points to follow). He was taken to the barracks of the Coraceros
(Avenida Battle y Ordoñez), where he died within 24 hours of his
arrest. His body was turned over to his relatives, who were given
contradictory and improbable explanations: asthma due to the cold (the
victim did not have that illness and had a coat with him), a traffic
accident, and others. According to the death certificate, the military
physician diagnosed his death as a result of a cardiovascular crisis.
The external part of his body showed obvious signs of violence, visible
to a number of individuals who attended the wake and in whose presence
the coffin was opened. The father of the victim, Professor Selmar Balbi,
filed a detailed complaint on the matter before the Civil Examining
Magistrate of Fifth Term. However, this judge could not act upon the
case since the Military Court reclaimed jurisdiction from him. The
background information went to the Military Judge of First Instance and
after that nothing further happened: no investigation is under way nor
has any punishment (criminal or administrative) of any kind been
applied. The
Government, in a note dated May 20, 1976, reported the following to the
Commission: Alvaro
Balbi, was arrested on July 29, 1975, during a clandestine meeting of
the Secretariat of Region 3 of the proscribed Communist Party with other
important leaders, who were responsible for the many documents on the
disruptive activities that that illegal group had been carrying out. He
was confined in a local police station on July 31, 1975, without a guard
within sight but with a guard posted outside and periodic control
checks; at one point, an officer entered the cell and found Balbi fallen
face forward, doubled over, with his knees and elbows supported on the
ground, at a distance of some four or five meters from the place where
the chair on which he had been left sitting had been; he was apparently
dead. The Military Examining Judge of the First Term was immediately
asked to intervene and appeared on the premises accompanied by the
forensic physician. The acting magistrate ordered that the autopsy be
conducted and that the corresponding summary proceedings begin. The
autopsy was conducted by Professor Dr. José A. Mautones who established
the cause of death as "acute pulmonary cardiac insufficiency due to
stress" on the corresponding death certificate. On August 29, 1975,
at the prosecutor's request, the Military Examining Magistrate of the
First Term ordered the proceedings closed, in accordance with the
provisions of Article 245 of the Military Criminal Procedure Code. The
proceedings were sent to the Supreme Military Tribunal by the Military
Judge of First Instance of the Fourth Term, who on December 30, 1975,
ordered that the proceedings be closed. The
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, at its 39th
session, continued its examination of the case, together with the
information provided by the Government of Uruguay, and decided to
request that Government to send a copy of the complete autopsy conducted
on the deceased, Mr. Alvaro Balbi; The
Commission forwarded that decision to the Government of Uruguay through
a note dated March 3, 1977, and requested the corresponding information
in the following words: In
fulfillment of that decision, we ask that Your Excellency be so kind as
to take such measures as you may deem appropriate so that the Commission
might have the requested information as soon as possible in order that
it might be considered at its next session. To
date, the Government of Uruguay has not provided the Commission a copy
of the complete protocol of autopsy conducted on the deceased, Mr.
Alvaro Balbi, and Article
51.1 of the Regulations of the Commission establishes the following: Article
51 The
occurrence of the event on which information has been requested will be
presumed to be confirmed if the Government referred to has not supplied
such information within 180 days of the request, provided always that
the invalidity of the events denounced is not shown by other elements of
proof. THE
INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, RESOLVES: 1. In application
of Article 5.1 of the Regulations, to presume the events denounced in
connection with the death of Mr. Alvaro Balbi to be confirmed, which
are: "The corpse of Alvaro Balbi showed externally obvious signs of
violence.'' 2. That there is
strong evidence to the effect that Mr. Alvaro Balbi, 30 years of age,
who had been detained by the authorities and was found dead two days
later in prison, died as a consequence of acts of violence, which the
Commission presumes to be true. 3. To point out to
the Government of Uruguay that the events denounced constitute very
serious violations of the right to life, liberty and personal security
(Article I of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man);
to the right to a fair trial (Article XVIII); and to the right to due
process of law (Article XXVI). 4. To recommend to
the Government a) that it order a thorough and impartial investigation
to determine who is responsible for the events denounced and, in
accordance with Uruguayan law, that it punish those responsible for
those acts; b) that it report to the Commission on the measures taken to
implement the recommendations contained in the preceding section, within
a period of no more than thirty days. 5. To forward this
resolution to the Government of Uruguay and to the claimants. 6. To include this
resolution in its Annual Report to the General Assembly of the
Organization (Article 9 (bis) c, iii of the Statute), if within thirty
days the Government has not advised the Commission of the measures it
has adopted to carry out the investigation recommended under operative
paragraph 3. Adopted at the 555th meeting, November 12, 1977 (42nd Session) and forwarded to the Government of Uruguay on November 17, 1977.[1]
[1]
The Government of Uruguay, in a note dated November 15, 1977,
replied to the note sent to it by the IACHR with regard to case
1967. That reply is contained in the report of the Commission on the
Situation of Human Rights in Uruguay (CIDH-OEA/Ser.L/V/II.43
doc.19).
|