CDH-CP-7/00 ENGLISH
PRESS RELEASE(*)
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights will hold its XLVIII Regular Session at its seat in San José, Costa Rica, from August 7 to August 18, 2000. During this session, the Court will consider the following matters:
1. Request for Provisional Measures on behalf of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian Descent in the Dominican Republic: At 10:00 on August 8, 2000, the Court will hold a public hearing to consider the perspectives of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and of the Dominican Republic on the facts and circumstances that motivated the Commission's May 30, 2000 request for provisional measures. The Commission presented a request for provisional measures to the Court on behalf of persons in the following category: Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent subject to the jurisdiction of the Dominican Republic.
According to the Commission, the facts that gave rise to the request are the following: the victims are being subjected to deportations and “collective expulsions” from the Dominican Republic, without the legal procedures that would permit the authorities to adequately identify their nationality, their emigration status, or their family ties. They are separated without any notice being given to their families, they are not allowed to bring their belongings or their earned wages and, in many cases, their children are left abandoned. Around 20,000 individuals were expelled or deported during the month of November 1999. After that date, the number of expulsions has diminished, but still persists. There are four groups affected by the deportations: undocumented Haitians, documented Haitians, undocumented Dominicans of Haitian descent, and documented Dominicans of Haitian descent. On November 22, 1999, the Inter-American Commission ordered precautionary measures and opened this case on May 8, 2000.
2. Cesti Hurtado Case: Reparations Phase. On August 10, 2000 at 10:00 the Court will hold a public hearing at its seat regarding the reparations of this case. The Court will hear the arguments of the victim, of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the State of Peru on compensation and expenses, given that the Court issued its judgment on September 29, 1999, deciding unanimously that, “the State of Peru is obligated to pay just compensation to Mr. Gustavo Adolfo Cesti Hurtado and to reimburse the expenses that he incurred as a result of the present process.”
In the said Judgment, the Court determined that Peru had violated, to the detriment of Mr. Gustavo Adolfo Cesti Hurtado, Articles 1(1) (Obligation to Respect Rights), 2 (Domestic Legal Effects), 7(1), (2), (3), and (6) (Right to Personal Freedom), 8(1) (Right to a Fair Trial), and 25 (Right to Judicial Protection) of the American Convention on Human Rights.
3. Hilaire Case: Preliminary Objections Phase. On August 10, 2000 at 10:00, the Court will hold a public hearing at its seat regarding the preliminary objection made by the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Said objection, refuted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, is based on the lack of jurisdiction of the Court to hear the present case due to a reservation made by Trinidad and Tobago when recognizing the contentious jurisdiction of the Court. The reservation stipulated that it recognized the contentious jurisdiction of the Court only to such extent that the recognition is consistent with the State’s Constitution.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights submitted this Case on May 25, 1999. The application refers to the arrest and detention of Mr. Haniff Hilaire and his subsequent mandatory death sentence for the crime of intentional homicide. In its application, the Commission considers that the State of Trinidad and Tobago violated the rights guaranteed under Articles 1 (Obligation to Respect Rights), 2 (Domestic Legal Effects), 4 (Right to Life), 5 (Right to Humane Treatment), 7 (Right to Personal Liberty), and 25 (Right to Judicial Protection) of the American Convention on Human Rights.
4. Paniagua Morales et al. Case: Reparations Phase: On August 11-12, 2000, the Court will hold a public hearing with the purpose of hearing the arguments of the victims, the family members or their representatives when applicable, the Inter-American Commission and Guatemala. The present hearing will take place in accordance with the Court's judgment on the merits of the case of March 8, 1998, where it resolved unanimously “that the State of Guatemala is obligated to remedy the consequences of the declared violations and to pay a fair compensation to the victims and, if applicable, to their family members.” In this Judgment, the Court also decided that Guatemala violated the Right to Personal Liberty (Article 7 of the American Convention in relation to Article 1(1) of the same) to the detriment of the following: Ana Elizabeth Paniagua Morales, Julián Salomón Gómez Ayala, William Otilio González Rivera, Pablo Corado Barrientos, Manuel de Jesús González López, Augusto Angárita Ramírez, Doris Torres Gil and Marco Antonio Montes Letona; the Right to Life (Article 4(1) of the American Convention) in relation to the following: Ana Elizabeth Paniagua Morales, Julián Salomón Gómez Ayala, William Otilio González Rivera, Pablo Corado Barrientos y Manuel de Jesús González López; Article 5(1) and 5(2) of the American Convention in relation to Article 1(1) of the same, and Articles 1, 6 and 8 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture to the detriment of the following: Ana Elizabeth Paniagua Morales, Julián Salomón Gómez Ayala, William Otilio González Rivera, Pablo Corado Barrientos, Manuel de Jesús González López, Augusto Angárita Ramñirez and Oscar Vásquez; Article 8(1) of the American Convention in relation to Article 1(1) of the same, to the detriment of the following: Ana Elizabeth Paniagua Morales, Julián Salomón Gómez Ayala, William Otilio González Rivera, Pablo Corado Barrientos, Manuel de Jesús González López and Erik Leonardo Chinchilla; and Article 25 of the American Convention in relation to Article 1(1) of the same, to the detriment of the following: Ana Elizabeth Paniagua Morales, Julián Salomón Gómez Ayala, William Otilio González Rivera, Pablo Corado Barrientos and Manuel de Jesús González López. Finally, Guatemala was requested to conduct an effective investigation to identify those responsible for the violations.
5. Cantoral Benavides Case (Peru): Merits Phase: During this session, the Court will deliberate on the possibility of passing judgment on the merits of this case. The facts of the case, submitted to the consideration of the Court on August 8, 1996, are related to alleged violations to the detriment of Luis Alberto Cantoral Benavides who, according to the Commission, was illegally deprived of his liberty; submitted to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment; judged twice on the same facts and thus deprived of certain judicial guarantees. According to the application, the Peruvian State is responsible for violating, to the detriment of Cantoral Benavides, Articles 5 (Right to Humane Treatment), 7 (Right to Personal Liberty), 8 (Right to a Fair Trial) and 25 (Judicial Protection) of the American Convention on Human Rights, all in relation to Article 1(1) of the same, which establishes the obligation to respect rights. The Commission also claims that Peru is responsible for violating Article 2 (Domestic Legal Effects) of the American Convention and Articles 2 and 8 of The Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture.
7. Other Matters: The Court will consider several pending issues and will analyze various reports presented by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and by States involved in issues where provisional measures have been adopted. Furthermore, the Tribunal will study the reports submitted by the Inter-American Commission, involved States, and victims or their representatives regarding cases currently in the compliance phase. Finally, the Court will consider various administrative issues.
The composition of the Court during this Regular Session is the following: Antônio A. Cançado Trindade (Brazil), President; Máximo Pacheco-Gómez (Chile), Vice-President; Hernán Salgado-Pesantes (Ecuador); Oliver Jackman (Barbados); Alirio Abreu-Burelli (Venezuela); Sergio García-Ramírez (Mexico) and Carlos Vicente de Roux-Rengifo (Colombia). In the Paniagua Morales case, Edgar Larraondo will participate as Judge ad hoc, designated by Guatemala. In the cases of Cantoral Benavides and Durand and Ugarte, Fernando Vidal Ramírez will participate as Judge ad hoc, appointed by Peru. The Secretary of the Court is Manuel E. Ventura-Robles and the Deputy Secretary is Renzo Pomi.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, established in 1979, is an autonomous judicial institution of the Organization of American States. It is composed of jurists of the highest moral standing and competence in the area of Human Rights. The Judges are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and cannot exercise their functions for more than two six-year terms.
For more infomation, please contact:
Manuel E. Ventura Robles, Secretary
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Apartado 6906-1000, San José, Costa Rica
Telephone: (506) 234-0581. Fax: (506) 234-0584.
E-mail: [email protected]
San José, August 1, 2000
(*)The contents of this release are the responsibility of the Secretariat of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The official text of the documents may be obtained by submitting a written request to the Secretariat at the address provided at the end of this document.