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RESOLUTION
Nº 19/87 CASE
9429 PERU June
30, 1987 HAVING
SEEN the background information on this case, viz: 1. In a
communication dated September 6, 1984, the Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights received the following complaint: DEPARTMENT
OF AYACUCHO: It is informed of the illegal executions of: PATROCINIO
QUICCHA ESPINOSA, VIRGILIO HUARANCA, OSWALDO CASTAÑEDA, FILON
PALOMINO AYALA, HERACLIO PALOMINO AYALA and ESTILO AYALA. During
April of 1983 we received reports that the afore-mentioned five men
have been murdered by members of the Civil Guard, in Paras, Department
of Ayacucho. According to the reports the men were arrested after
being accused of involvement in guerrilla activities, accusations
which have been denied by their families. All but Estilo Ayala, a
businessman, were teachers. According
to the Peruvian journal CARETAS dated August 22, 1983, Quiccha,
Huaranca and Estilo Ayala were arrested by a Civil Guard patrol as
they walked towards the Paras market on April 10, 1983. They were then
taken behind a hill and shot. No further details on the murder of
Castañeda Filón or Palomino Ayala have been received. The
Peruvian Government has been asked to initiate investigations on these
murders, with no reply whatsoever. This
situation appears to constitute a clear violation of the Convention on
Human Rights, of which Peru is a member State. 2. In a note dated
October 24, 1984, the Commission requested the corresponding
information from the Government of Peru, and transmitted the pertinent
parts of the claim, in accordance with Article 34 (formerly 31) of its
Regulations. This request was repeated in its note dated January 30,
1985. 3. In a note dated
March 6, 1985 (Nº 7-5-M/37), the Government of Peru provided the
following information: Regarding
case 9429, it is to be observed that Estilo Ayala, Virgilio Huaranca
and Patrocinio Quiccha, identified as terrorists, died during
confrontations with forces of law and order. Regarding Oswaldo Castañeda
Filón, whose real name is Pablo Oswaldo Castañeda Fibio, he was
killed on April 6, 1983, in Paras, Cangallo, at a social gathering
with a group of friends. Preliminary investigations indicate that two
presumed engineers, with the group, are the responsible agents.
Regarding Heraclio Palomino Ayala, he was murdered by a terrorist
group after undergoing torture in Plaza de Armas in Socco, Huamanga. 4. Through a
communication dated March 19, 1985, the Commission transmitted the
pertinent parts of the Peruvian Government's reply to the petitioner
requesting that he make his observations or comments within 45 days.
This request was repeated on May 1, 1986. 5. Through a note
dated May 1st 1986,
the Commission informed the Government of Peru that, in view of the
information provided by the Government in the afore-mentioned note of
March 6, 1985 (Nº 7-5-M/37, supra), it had reiterated its request for
information or comments by the petitioner. 6. In a
communication dated June 6, 1986, the petitioner made the following
observations and comments on the case: Regarding
the cases of Estilo Ayala, Virgilio Huaranca and Patrocinio Quiccha
Espinosa, the Peruvian Government's reply that the three "died
during confrontations with forces of law and order", is the same
one as transmitted in a communication on April 12, 1983. This reply
does not refer at all to the information widely disseminated in Peru,
in August 1983, based on interviews, description of the arrest and
death of the three men, and another dressed in black, by members of
the Civil Guard. This report was published by the journal CARETAS
on August 22,1983; we believe it was never publicly investigated,
questioned or denied by the authorities. The death of those three men
was also brought up in the testimonies of the residents of Espite,
near Paras, in June 1983. Since
the Government of Peru states that this case is no longer under
investigation and, therefore, is considered closed, we believe that
the domestic remedies are exhausted, and, therefore, the Commission
should adopt new measures in order to assure that a complete
investigation is carried out and that the agents responsible for these
alleged illegal executions be brought to justice. In
view of the Peruvian Government's statement that the three men were
identified as terrorists, it is requested that the Commission require
transcripts from the police or other reports to justify this
assertion, as also specific reports on the deaths of those three men.
According to public information, the Director of Education of the
Department of Ayacucho, Esteban García Paredes, received testimonies
from the relatives of the three men officially requesting an
investigation on their deaths by the Military Police Command;
therefore, the Commission could require that the Government provide
the information related to the actions of the Department of Education
and the Military Command in this case. Regarding
the case of Heraclio Palomino Ayala, the Peruvian Government's reply
apparently coincides with reports received that he was politically
mistreated and later murdered by his captors. Nevertheless, the
Government attributes his death to the clandestine Sendero Luminioso
group, while the reports we have received indicate he was taken from
his home, in the presence of his family, by Civil Guard members. It is
requested that the Commission confirm if the Government's reply is
based solely on reports from the Civil Guard Soccos detachment, or if
the relatives of the deceased, teachers or local government officials
from Socco have also provided information on this crime. The
Government, therefore, should provide the Commission with transcripts
of the corresponding judicial actions. As
the Commission knows, on November 23, 1983 criminal proceedings, still
in process, were instituted against 26 members of the Civil Guard of
Soccos for the death of 34 rural citizens. Before the investigation
carried out by the Public Prosecutor's Office, these deaths were
initially attributed to the Sendero Luminoso group. Although
we know that in recent years the Sendero Luminoso group has
assassinated professors and other people in the emergency zone in
Ayacucho, we do not believe that the investigation into the death of
Heraclio Palomino Ayala has been carried out in a complete and
impartial manner. In spite of the Peruvian Government's reply
considering this case closed and of no further investigation, it is
suggested that the Commission continue its efforts to assure that a
complete investigation is made and that the responsible agents for
this death be brought to justice. It is requested that the Commission
ask the Government of Peru for transcripts of the corresponding
judicial actions. Regarding
the case of Oswaldo Castañeda Filón, we have received no further
information since his death was reported on April 14, 1983. 7. Through a note
dated June 23, 1986, the Commission transmitted to the Government of
Peru the petitioner's observations, asking it to provide information
on the case within 30 days. CONSIDERING:
1. That the
subject matter of this case meets the requirements for admissibility
set forth in the Commission's Regulations. 2. That there
exist important discrepancies between the information provided by the
Government of Peru in its note of March 6, 1985 and the observations
submitted by the petitioner regarding the way the events claimed took
place, and specifically those events of public knowledge which the
petitioner says were disseminated in Peru in August 1983, according to
the records on this case. 3. That the
Government of Peru has not provided, in the abovementioned note, any
proof showing that Estilo Ayala, Virgilio Huaranca and Patrocinio
Quiccha (identified as a terrorist, in that note) died during
"confrontations with the forces of law and order"; nor that
Oswaldo Casteñeda Filón (or Pablo Oswaldo Castañeda Fibio) was
killed on April 6, 1983 "at a social gathering with a group of
friends", since the Commission has not received any pertinent
documents related to the investigations referred to in the
above-mentioned note of March 6. 4. That neither
has the Government of Peru provided information verifying what
actually happened to Mr. Heraclio Palomino Ayala and his alleged
torture at the Plaza de Armas in Socco, Huamanga, the petitioner
claiming that in this case a complete and impartial investigation has
not been carried out. 5. That, in
general, the data and information transmitted by the Government of
Peru is insufficient to detract from the claim. 6. That in
accordance with Article 42 (formerly 39) of the Regulations the
Commission presumes true the facts denounced, as other evidence does
not lead to a different conclusion. 7. That in this
case, upon termination of the investigations, as inferred from the
Note dated March 1985, the petitioner has not had access to domestic
legal remedies, in which case the Commission is therefore authorized
to apply the exception set forth in Article 37, paragraph 2, b
of its Regulations and proceed to study the petition. 8. That, moreover,
in the case that is the subject matter of the present Resolution and
in view of the nature of the events, that is, the illegal execution of
PATROCINIO QUICCHA ESPINOSA, VIRGILIO HUARANCA, OSWALDO CASTAÑEDA,
FILON PALOMINO AYALA, HERACLIO PALOMINO AYALA and ESTILO AYALA the
Commission has not been able to apply the friendly settlement
procedure provided for in Article 48, paragraph 1, f of the
American Convention on Human Rights and in Article 45 of its
Regulations. 9. That the
process has been exhausted before the Committee and the time limit of
30 days granted to the Government of Peru in the note of June 23, 1986
has expired. THE
INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, RESOLVES: 1. To presume true
the facts denounced in the communication of September 6, 1984
concerning the illegal executions of Messrs. Patrocinio Quiccha
Espinosa, Virgilio Huaranca, Oswaldo Castañeda, Filón Palomino
Ayala, Heraclio Palomino Ayala and Estilo Ayala. 2. To declare that
the events denounced in this case constitute a serious violations of
the right to life (Art. 4) and personal integrity (Art. 5) of the
American Convention on Human Rights. 3. To recommend to
the Government of Peru that in the shortest time possible it initiate
a thorough investigation of these serious facts and punish the
responsible agents with the most severe penalties within the domestic
legislation. 4. To declare that
the relatives of the victims have a right to just compensation,
according to law, and, therefore, it corresponds to the Government of
Peru to grant such compensation. 5. To request the
Government of Peru to inform the Commission, within 60 days, on the
measures taken to implement the recommendations set forth in this
resolution. If after 60 days the Government of Peru does not report on
the measures taken, the Commission will include this Resolution in its
Annual Report to the General Assembly of the OAS, in accordance with
Article 63, g of its Regulations. 6. To transmit
this Resolution to the Government of Peru and to the petitioner.
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