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OEA/Ser.L/V/II.54 ANNUAL
REPORT OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
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RESOLUTION 26/81 Case 7739 (BOLIVIA) June 25, 1981 BACKGROUND:
1. In a
communication of January 23, 1981, the death of several persons was
denounced to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, in the
following terms: According
to the reports received, in the evening of January 15, 1981, a combined
group of paramilitary forces and regular soldiers, acting under
instructions of the Ministry of the Interior, raided a house in the city
of La Paz, in which a meeting was being held of leaders of the
Revolutionary Leftist Movement (MIR), a nationalist radical party, which
had gained six congressional seats in the 1979 elections. Some
15 persons were attending the meeting, including representatives of the
Bolivian Workers Union. According to the reports, the soldiers surrounded
the house and, although no resistance was offered, nine persons were
killed. Some of the victims were claimed to have been tortured before
their death. Later, at a press conference, the Minister of the Interior
reported that nine guerillas and a policeman had been killed in an armed
confrontation. The
following persons are believed to have died: ARTEMIO
CAMARGO: Leader of the Federated Union of Mine Workers (FSTMB), who worked
in the Siglo XX mine. JOSE
REYES CARVAJAL: A forty-one-year-old former policeman who had been elected
deputy for the City of La Paz by the Popular Democratic Union in the 1980
elections. JOSE
LUIS SUAREZ GUZMAN: University professor. ARIEL
MENACHO: Approximately 50 years old, an MIR organizer in Pando. KOREE
BALDIVIESO: About 35 years old, an MIR organizer in Oruro. RICARDO
NAVARRO MOGRO: A university professor, about 30 years GONZALO
BARON: Student leader. RAMIRO
VELASCO AVILES: About 35 years old. 2. In a note of
February 19, 1981, the Commission transmitted to the Government of Bolivia
the pertinent portions of the denunciation, requesting that it furnish
pertinent information on it and any evidence to determine whether all
remedies of domestic law were exhausted in this case. 3. When the
Commission received no reply from the Bolivian Government, it repeated its
request for information in a note of April 13, 1981, and announced
possible application of Article 39 of its Regulations, on the presumption
that the facts in the petition are true. WHEREAS:
1. Articles 39 of
the Commission's Regulations provides as follows: The
facts reported in the petition whose pertinent parts have been transmitted
to the government of the state in reference shall be presumed to be true
if, during the maximum period set by the Commission under the provisions
of Articles 31 paragraph 5, the government has not provided the pertinent
information, as long as other as other evidence does not lead to a
different conclusion. 2. To date, the
Bolivian Government has not responded to the Commission's requests in its
notes of February 19 and April 13, 1981, for information on the death of
Artemio Camargo, José Reyes Carvajal, José Luis Suárez Guzmán, Ariel
Menacho, Koree Baldivieso, Ricardo Navarro Mogro, Gonzalo Baron, and
Ramiro Velasco Aviles. THE
INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLVES:
1. In application
of Article 39 of its Regulations, to presume to be true the events
mentioned in the communication of January 23, 1981, concerning the death
under irregular circumstances of Artemio Camargo, José Reyes Carvajal,
José Luis Suárez Guzmán, Ariel Menacho, Koree Baldivieso, Ricardo
Navarro Mogro, Gonzalo Baron, and Ramiro Velasco Aviles. 2. To draw to the
attention of the Government of Bolivia that such acts are very serious
violations of the right to life (Article IV); the right to personal
security (Article V), and the right to liberty (Article VII) of the
American Convention on Human Rights. 3. To recommend
that the Government of Bolivia: a) order a complete and impartial
investigation to determine the perpetrators of the events denounced; b)
that it punish under Bolivian law the persons responsible for those
events; c) that it report to the Commission in ninety days on the steps
taken to implement the above recommendations. 4. To transmit
this resolution to the Government of Bolivia in light of Article 44 of the
Commission's Regulations for appropriate action. 5. At the expiration of the deadline set in paragraph 3 of this Resolution, the Commission will, pursuant to Article 45 of its Regulations, and taking into account the measures adopted by the Government, decide under the terms of that article whether to publish this resolution
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