RESOLUTION Nº 1/85 (bis)

CASE Nº 9265

SURINAME

October 2, 1985

(Decision on a Request for Reconsideration)

BACKGROUND:

1.          On July 1, 1985 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights adopted Resolution 1/85 regarding Case Nº 9265 of Suriname.

2.          In doing so the Commission resolved to include this Resolution in both its Annual Report for 1984-85 as well as its second country Report on the Human Rights Situation in Suriname.

3.          The Commission, in Resolution 1/85, concluded that the Government of Suriname violated the human rights of the subjects of that case, specifically with regard to their having been tortured and in that they were denied due process, notwithstanding the fact that some of the subjects had been released from custody.

4.          Resolution 1/85 recommended that the Government of Suriname investigate the human rights violations in question and duly prosecute and punish those persons responsible for the violations.

5.          Resolution 1/85 was then sent to the Government of Suriname with the request that the Government informs the Commission within 60 days of the measures it had taken to implement the above-mentioned recommendation.

6.          On September 11, 1985 the Government of Suriname responded to Resolution 1/85 noting the following:

a. That the Government had promptly answered the original complaint;

b. That the Government had subsequently sent photostatic copies of the sentences handed down on several of the subjects of this case;

c. That the special commission of the IACHR during its on-site visit in January of 1985 had been able to verify that the majority of the subjects of this case had been released from custody;

d. That the Government of Suriname only learned of the allegations of torture in this case when it received Resolution 1/85;

e. That the Government of Suriname only learned that the special commission of the IACHR had interviewed certain representatives of the military authorities during its in-situ visit and that the latter had denied the allegations regarding torture;

f. That the National Institute of Human Rights is presently carrying out an investigation of these allegations "which investigation has so far produced additional information that is of importance in the final evaluation of Case 9265.";

g. That on the basis of these factors the Government of Suriname asked that Resolution 1/85 be reconsidered by the Commission as being "premature."

CONSIDERING:

1.          That the events that gave rise to this case occurred in the month of November, 1983;

2.          That in the original complaint sent to the Government of Suriname on December 6, 1983 the pertinents parts included the following sentence: "We have received reports that some of those arrested have been beaten while in custody", and that such a statement clearly put the Government of Suriname on notice that allegations of torture were part of the complaint;

3.          That the Government of Suriname has not provided the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights with proofs that would allow it to rescind its resolution regarding the practice of torture and the denial of due process;

4.          That the evidence and testimony obtained by the Commission before, during and after its on-site visit to Suriname overwhelmingly corroborates the allegations of human rights violations in this case concerning both torture and the denial of due process.

THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, THEREFORE RESOLVES:

1.          To confirm Resolution 1/85 in all its parts; and

2.          To order the publication of this Resolution along with Resolution 1/85 in both its second country Report on the Human Rights Situation in Suriname as well as in its Annual Report for 1984-85.