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Case 2720 BOLIVIA BACKGROUND: 1. On December 5,
1977, the Commission received the following denunciation: Rubén
Luis Romero Eguino, a medical student, 29 years old, married, of
Bolivian nationality, resident in La Paz, was wounded in La Paz on April
12, 1976. He did not receive medical attention, he was tortured and
starved for several days. According to an agent, he lost a leg during
the torture. He has been in the basement of the Ministry of the Interior
since the date on which he was arrested, to make it easier for him to be
interrogated under constant torture. His wife, who was also arrested,
was tortured, together with his two children (one 3 years, and the other
3 months old), in his presence, as coercion to obtain statements from
him. The International Red Cross was not allowed to visit the place
where he is being held. The
Courts and government attorneys refuse to intervene in all political
cases, and those family members who did intervene were exiled from the
country. A
witness to the occurrence was Mr. Carlos Arispe Terrazas, a university
student in the city of La Paz. A large contingent of agents of the
Political Control attacked his house. He was riddled with bullets by two
agents." 2. In a note dated
April 3, 1978, the Commission transmitted the pertinent parts of the
denunciation to the Government of Bolivia, and asked it to provide the
corresponding information. 3. In a
communication dated June 6, 1978, the Government of Bolivia, without
referring to acts of torture or to the lack of due process, replied to
the Commission's request in the following terms: "Mr.
Rubén Luis Romero Eguino, alias 'Dardo' or 'Lucio', an active militant
in the National Liberation Army (ELN), and in the Revolutionary Workers
Party of Bolivia (PRT-B), was a member of the Political Military
Directorate of the ELN. During the first few days in March 1975, he
attended the meeting to found the Revolutionary Workers Party of Bolivia
in Lima. He entered the country in mid-1975, with the mission of
organizing cells and distributing propaganda for the PRT-B, for purposes
of conspiracy. He was arrested on April 12, 1976, and in January of
1978, he voluntarily left the country. He has now been granted
amnesty under the Amnesty Decree issued by the Supreme Government." 4. The pertinent
parts of the Government's reply were transmitted in a letter of June 28,
1978, to the person filing the denunciation and he was invited to make
observations on the reply. WHEREAS: 1. The Government
of Bolivia replied to the Commission's request for information on the
events denounced, without referring to torture or to the lack of due
process. 2. Article 51.1 of
the Regulations of the Commission provides as follows: Article
51: 1.
The occurrence of the events 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 OF HUMAN RIGHTS. RESOLVES: 1. In application
of Article 51.1 of the Regulations, to presume the material facts of the
denunciation related to torture and the lack of due process to be
confirmed. 2. To declare that
the Government of Bolivia violated (Article I) the right to life,
liberty and personal security, and (Article XXVI) the right to due
process of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. 3. To recommend to
the Government of Bolivia: a) that it order a complete, impartial
investigation to determine responsibility for the events denounced, and
to sanction those responsible for these events under Bolivian Law, and
b) that it inform the Commission within a maximum of 60 days as to
measures taken to put into practice the recommendations listed in the
present Resolution. 4. To communicate
this decision to the Government of Bolivia and to the claimant. 5. To include this
Resolution in the Annual Report of the Commission to the General
Assembly of the Organization of American States, pursuant to Article 9
(bis), paragraph c. iii of the Statute of the Commission, without
prejudice to the fact that the Commission may, at its next session,
reconsider the case in the light of such measures as the government may
have adopted. (Approved
at the 609th meeting of March 6, 1979 (46th session) and transmitted to
the Government of Bolivia)
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