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Case 2758 BOLIVIA BACKGROUND: 1. On December 5,
1977, the Commission received the following denunciation: Sonia
Flores, a law student, living in the city of Oruro, was detained by
agents of the Political Police in the city of Oruro in July 1972,
together with her husband, N. Carrillo, and Cancio Plaza. The three were
taken to the Ministry of the Interior in the city of La Paz, where they
were cruelly whipped, despite the fact that Mrs. Flores was pregnant.
She was released eight months later. She
had no trial, no charges were made, and she had no opportunity to defend
herself. She was held incommunicado all this time. After her
release, she was placed under ‘house arrest’ (residenciada)
in the city of Oruro, where she is currently living. (That is to say,
that under the ‘State Security Law’, she may not leave Oruro). 2. In a note of
April 5, 1978, the Commission transmitted the pertinent parts of the
denunciation to the Government of Bolivia, and asked it to provide the
appropriate information. 3. In a
communication of June 6, 1978, the Government of Bolivia, without
referring to torture, replied to the Commission’s request in the
following terms: “Miss
Sonia Flores Luna, a law student, unmarried, became a member of the
National Liberation Army (ELN) in January 1972 and she was given the nom
de guerre ‘Pepa’, and was a member of the cell along with
‘Jalisco’, ‘Basilio’ and ‘Rodolfo’. She was the mistress of
Agustín Carrillo Carrasco, alias ‘Negro’, a dangerous extremist
element within that organization. She was detained in the city of Oruro
on July 26, 1972, because of her active subversive activities against
the present Government. She acknowledged that she had entered the ELN
because of her association with her lover, Agustín Carrillo Carrasco. She
was released on February 16, 1973, and signed a pledge to remain
resident in the city of Oruro. She has currently been granted amnesty
under the General Amnesty decreed by the Supreme Government on January
19, 1978. 4. The pertinent
parts of the Government’s reply were transmitted to the claimant by
letter of June 28, 1978, and he was invited to make observations on that
reply. To date the complainant has made no observations on the
Government’s reply. WHEREAS: 1. The Government
of Bolivia replied to the Commission’s request for information on the
events denounced, but did not refer to torture; 2. Article 51.1 of
the Regulations of the Commission provide as follows: Article
51: 1.
The accounts 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 ON HUMAN RIGHTS, RESOLVES: 1. On the basis of
Article 51.1 of the Regulations, to presume the material facts of the
denunciation with regard to torture to have been confirmed. 2. To declare that
the Government of Bolivia violated (Article I) right to life, liberty
and personal security 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, in accordance with
Bolivian law, and b) that it inform the Commission within a maximum of
60 days as to the 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 complainant. 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 610th meeting of March 7, 1979 (46th
Session) and transmitted to the Government of Bolivia).
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