Tenorio Roca et al. v. Peru
Legal Relevance
Keywords: Relatives as Victims | Right to Know the Truth | Effective Remedy | Amnesties | Judicial Protection | Systemic Practice
Themes: Justice and Truth
The Court stressed that the case of Mr. Tenorio Roco was not isolated but was part of a generalised context of enforced disappearances in which a modus operandi was established by the military, within the framework of a counter-subversive strategy. The Court concluded that the State violated the right to a hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law, as the investigations related to the enforced disappearance of Mr. Tenorio Roca had been processed before the military courts. Further, the Court concluded that during the period in which the amnesty laws were applied, the State failed to comply with its obligation to bring its domestic law into line with the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons.
Judgment Date
June 22, 2016
Country
Peru
Judicial Body
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Articles violated
Article 1(1) [ACHR], Article 2 [ACHR], Article 3 [ACHR], Article 4(1) [ACHR], Article 5(1) [ACHR], Article 5(2) [ACHR], Article 7 [ACHR], Article 8(1) [ACHR], Article 25(1) [ACHR], Article 1(a) [IACFDP], Article 1(b) [IACFDP], Article 3 [IACFDP]
Articles not violated / not dealt with
Article 2 [ACHR]
Facts of the Case
In December 1982, in the context of the armed conflict between the State and the guerrilla group "Sendero Luminoso", the President transferred political-military control of the Ayacucho emergency zone to the Armed Forces. In January 1983, the Navy established its "counter-subversive" military base in the Municipal Stadium of Huanta. The most significant cases of enforced disappearance and extrajudicial executions reported to the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission correspond to this period. The Commission documented the detention of 57 people from different communities by the police and the Navy between July and August 1984, with their whereabouts being unknown at the time of proceedings. Mr. Rigoberto Tenorio Roca had been selected as a military recruitment officer; when he went to the "Los Cabitos" military base to inquire about the start of activities, he was arrested by police and army personnel during an operation against the public service bus in which he was travelling with his wife.
Links to cases cited within
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- La Cantuta v. Peru
- Goiburú et al. v. Paraguay
- Anzualdo Castro v. Peru
- Castillo Páez v. Peru
- Radilla Pacheco v. Mexico
- Serrano Cruz Sisters v. El Salvador
- Pueblo Bello Massacre v. Colombia
- Heliodoro Portugal v. Panama
- Ticona Estrada et al. v. Bolivia
- Tiu Tojín v. Guatemala