Case of Gomes Lund et al. ("Guerrilha do Araguaia") v. Brazil

Abstract

On March 26, 2009, in accordance with the provisions of Articles 51 and 61 of the American Convention, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter, “the Inter-American Commission” or “the Commission”) submitted an application against the Federal Republic of Brazil (hereinafter, “the State,” “Brazil,” or “the Union”) to the Court, which originated from the petition presented on August 7, 1995 by the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), Human Rights Watch/Americas, in the name of disappeared persons in the context of the Guerrilha do Araguaia (hereinafter, also “the Guerrilla”) and their next of kin.2 On March 6, 2001, the Commission issued Admissibility Report No. 33/01,3 and on October 31, 2008, approved the Report on the Merits No. 91/08, pursuant to Article 50 of the Convention, in which it made a series of recommendations for the State. 4This report was notified to Brazil on November 21, 2008, and the State was granted a period of two months to provide information on any actions taken to implement the recommendations of the Commission. Despite the two extensions afforded to the State, the period of time for it to present information regarding compliance with the recommendations elapsed without there having been “satisfactory implementation of [them].” As such, the Commission decided to submit the case to the Court, considering that it represented “an important opportunity for the Court to consolidate the InterAmerican jurisprudence on amnesty laws in relation to enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions, and the State’s consequential obligation to provide society with the truth, investigate, prosecute, and punish serious human rights violations.” Likewise, the Commission emphasized the historical value of the case and the possibility that the Court could affirm the non-compatibility, of not only the amnesty laws, but also of the laws on confidentiality of documents with the American Convention. The Commission designated as delegates, Mr. Felipe González, Commissioner, and Santiago A. Canton, Executive Secretary, and as legal advisors, the Deputy Executive Secretary, Mrs. Elizabeth Abi-Mershed, and the lawyers, Lilly Ching Soto and Mario López Garelli, Executive Secretariat specialists.