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RESOLUTION Nº 28/83 CASE
7913 ARGENTINA October 4, 1984 BACKGROUND:
1. Through a
communication of September 15, 1981, the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights received the following complaint: MARIA
TERESA CERVIÑO disappeared on April 26, 1976 when she drove off in her
automobile in Lomas de Zamora, Buenos Aires Province, to do some
shopping. Neither she nor her car have been seen again. She was
twenty-nine years old. In
spite of persistent efforts and inquiries, it was impossible to obtain
any specific information. In reply to various statements presented, the
Ministry of the Interior invariably asserted that the woman was not
being held. General Videla personally told her mother the same thing in
May 1976. However, during the same period, Monsignor Antonio Plaza,
Archbishop of La Plata, informed the family that María Teresa had been
held in the police precinct of Lomas de Zamora, but that she had been
moved. In
May 1981, five years after the act was committed and as a consequence of
further demands by the family, the Ministry of the Interior mailed the
mother a note signed by Commander Sosa, which read as follows: "María
Teresa Cerviño
died on April 28, 1976 in the jurisdiction of the police precinct of
Lomas de Zamora. A homicide case is being tried in the Criminal Court Nº
2, Secretariat 3 of Banfield, Buenos Aires Province." An
examination of the case reveals: 1.
On April 28, 1976, two days after her disappearance, the body of
María Teresa Cerviño was found hanged from a pedestrian bridge over
the railroad in Avellaneda. The police of Lomas de Zamora entered into
the case. The head and the body were wrapped in polyethylene; a rope was
around the neck; the hands were tied behind; the eyes were covered with
adhesive tape. There was a placard that read "I was a guerrilla.
Follow me." 2.
The case was handled by the Criminal Court of First Instance Nº
2 of Banfield, province of Buenos Aires, at that time under the
direction of Dr. Raúl F. Varesio, Secretariat of Dr. Julio E.
Virgolini, with the participation of the District Attorney, Dr. Lorenzo
Antonio Romillo. Also
on April 28 the victim was identified through the federal police. The
police also revealed her place of residence as San Miguel de Tucumán,
the same as that of her parents. An autopsy was made, the bullets were
studied by experts, the body was buried, and for all practical purposes
the proceedings were concluded. All this was accomplished with unusual
speed. Following
repeated requests to the director of the cemetery of Avellaneda, who
delayed a month in revealing the place of burial, the file on the case
was returned to the Court on June 29. On July 3, Judge Varosio, ordered
the case dismissed without prejudice to the presentation of new
evidence. There
is no doubt that serious irregularities were committed in handling the
case. The rules of the Code of Criminal Procedure were not met; no time
was allowed for producing evidence; and, finally, the family was not
informed of the victim's death. It
is extremely suspicious that in a single day, April 28, 1976, the body
was discovered, instructions were issued through the summary
proceedings, and the autopsy and burial of the body took place, without
calling the relatives, whose address was known through the
identification that was made also on that day. The rapidity of these
actions, designed to violate criminal laws, concealed the facts, so that
no one would be able to step forward to see to proper fulfillment of the
investigations and to determination and punishment of the authorities
responsible for the crime. 2.
Through a note of October 2, 1981, the IACHR transmitted the
pertinent parts to the Government of Argentina, requesting it to furnish
the Commission with the corresponding information, and also with any
other evidence that would enable it to determine if the domestic
jurisdiction had been exhausted. 3. The IACHR has
in its possession a summary of the proceedings Nº 5234 for 1976, file
106, of Buenos Aires Province. It also has a copy of the petition
presented on July 10, 1981 in the Criminal Court of First Instance Nº
2, Secretariat Nº 3, of Banfield, Buenos Aires Province, for reopening
Case 5234 of 1976, bearing the title "Cerviño, María Teresa,
homicide victim." 4. The Commission
repeated its request for information to the Argentine Government on May
27, 1982, stating that if no response were forthcoming within a
reasonable time, the Commission would consider application of Article 39
of the Regulations of the Commission, concerning presumption of the
truth of the acts reported. The contents of this note were reiterated by
the IACHR on February 28, 1983. WHEREAS:
1. To date the
Government of Argentina has not replied to the request for information
contained in the Commission's notes of October 2, 1981, May 27, 1982,
and February 28, 1983; and 2. Article 39 of
the Regulations of the Commission establishes as follows:
Article
39
(Presumption) The
facts reported in the petition whose pertinent parts have been
transmitted to the government of the state in reference shall be
presumed to be true if, during the maximum period set by the Commission
under the provisions of Article 31 paragraph 5, the government has not
provided the pertinent information, as long as other evidence does not
lead to a different conclusion. THE
INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, RESOLVES: 1. To presume the
facts reported in the communication of September, 1981 to be true,
concerning the irregular circumstances in which Miss María Teresa Cerviño
died. 2. To observe to
the Government of Argentina that these acts constitute extremely serious
violations of the right to life, liberty, and personal security (Article
I); the right to a fair trial (Article XVIII); and the right of
protection against arbitrary arrest (Article XXV) of the American
Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. 3. To recommend to
the Government of Argentina: a. that it order a complete and impartial
investigation to determine who perpetrated the acts reported; b. that it
punish those responsible for these acts, in accordance with the laws of
Argentina; and c. that it inform the Commission within a period of no
more than sixty days on the steps taken to put into practice the
recommendations set forth in this resolution. 4. To inform the
Government of Argentina and the complainants of this resolution. 5. To include this
resolution in the Annual Report to the General Assembly of the
Organization of American States, in accordance with Article 59 (g) of
the Regulations of the Commission, without precluding the fact that the
Commission may reconsider the case at its next session, in the light of
the measures taken by the government.
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