Inter-American Court will see cases against Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) informed on Friday that it will hold a session during next week at its headquarters in Costa Rica, where it will hold hearings on cases against Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela. On Tuesday, March 10, the international tribunal will see the case of Acosta Martínez and others against Argentina, which relates to the alleged international responsibility of the State for the arrest and subsequent death on April 5, 1996 of José Delfín Acosta, an Afro-descendant of Uruguayan nationality . The lawsuit indicates that his detention would have been illegal, arbitrary and discriminatory, and argues that the state authorities did not provide immediate assistance to the alleged victim, nor acted in a manner to safeguard his physical integrity and his life. The second case that will be heard by the judges will be Fernández Prieto and others against Argentina, whose hearing will be on Wednesday, March 11, on the alleged illegal and arbitrary detentions of Carlos Alberto Fernández Prieto and Carlos Alejandro Tumbeiro in May 1992 and January 1998, respectively, by agents of the Police of Buenos Aires. Both arrests would have been made without a court order and without flagrancy. In none of these cases it would have been established in detail, in the respective police documentation, what were the objective elements that gave rise to a reasonable degree of suspicion in the commission of a crime. In the case of Fernández Prieto, there would be a lack of absolute explanation, while in Tumbeiro’s case the explanation would have been related to an alleged “state of nervousness” and “inconsistency” between clothing and objects that he carried with the area in which was, arguments that are not enough to justify the suspicion of committing a crime, according to the lawsuit. On Monday, March 16, the IACHR will hold the hearing on the Olivares Muñoz et al. Case against Venezuela for the alleged extrajudicial execution of Orlando Edgardo Olivares Muñoz, Joel Rinaldi Reyes Nava, Orangel José Figueroa, Héctor Javier Muñoz Valerio, Pedro Ramón López Chaurán, José Gregorio Bolívar Corro and Richard Alexis Núñez Palma. They would have been deprived of liberty at the Vista Hermosa Prison in Ciudad Bolívar and their executions would have been carried out by members of the National Guard on November 10, 2003, when 27 other persons deprived of liberty would also have been injured. . The lawsuit argues that the use of force would have been illegitimate and that the State would not have provided a satisfactory explanation of the deaths and injuries that occurred. The last hearing will be on Wednesday, March 18 and it is the case of Flores Bedregal and others against Bolivia for the alleged forced disappearance of Juan Carlos Flores Bedregal, leader of the Revolutionary Workers Party and national deputy, and the alleged impunity in which they would meet these facts. The disappearance of Flores would have begun execution in the framework of the coup d’etat of July 1980 by military forces. The lawsuit explains that although processes that culminated in convictions were advanced, to date there would have been no complete clarification, including the whereabouts of the mortal remains. The IACHR will also hold a hearing requesting an advisory opinion presented by the State of Colombia on the scope of international obligations in the field of human rights protection of a member State of the Organization of American States that has denounced the American Convention.