Juan Carlos Blanco (Quinteros)

Legal Relevance

Keywords: Women and Girls | Deprivation of Liberty | Statute of Limitations

Themes: Characteristics of the Crime

The Court found evidence that the events that led to the victim’s disappearance were committed by military officials or police for political motives, and that following the victim's tentative escape the commanders had proceeded to arrest her, deny that they had previously detained her, and make any trace of her disappear. The Court also recalled how Mr. Blanco, as Chancellor of the Republic, was fully aware of the reports of kidnappings, detentions and disappearances of people in Uruguay. It further observed that the military's denial of involvement in the disappearance should not have been considered as undisputed, as the accused had access to other sources of information about the case. From the secret documents, the Court inferred that the accused collaborated with the people who deprived the victim of her freedom, as in the documents he acknowledged the events and tried to attribute responsibility to the Venezuelan authorities. The Court held that Mr. Blanco collaborated with the captors and cooperated in circulating false information. It dound him guilty as a co-author of the crime of deprivation of liberty, aggravated by the existence of political or ideological motives. It added that the statute of limitation did not run out as deprivation of liberty cannot be considered as ceased without proof of the victim’s death.