III Inter-American System
| Author | Claudia Martin |
| DOI | 10.1177/016934410402200408 |
| Date | 01 December 2004 |
| Published date | 01 December 2004 |
| Subject Matter | Part B: Human Rights News |
656
III INTER-AMERICAN SYSTEM
CLAUDIA MARTIN*
During the period covered by this report, the Inter-American Court on Human
Rights (hereinafter ‘Inter-American Court’ or ‘Court’) issued several decisions on
the merits, which include: Plan de Sa
´nchez Massacre vs Guatemala,Molina Theissen vs
Guatemala,Herrera Ulloa vs Costa Rica,19 Merchants vs Colombia,Gomez-Paquiyauri
Brothers vs Peru,Ricardo Canese vs Paraguay,Children’s Rehabilitation vs Paraguay, and
Tibi vs Ecuador. In addition, the Court issued decisions on jurisdiction in the Baena,
Ricardo vs Panama Case, on reparations in the Molina Theissen vs Guatemala Case and
rejected consideration of the Alfonso Martin del Campo Dodd vs Mexico Case for lack of
jurisdiction.
Also, the Court is currently reviewing requests for Advisory Opinion 19 and 20,
submitted by Venezuela and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
(hereinafter ‘Inter-American Commission’ or ‘Commission’), respectively.
The present report will analyse the most important legal issues raised by two
decisions issued in 2003, Myrna Mack Chang vs Guatemala and Baena, Ricardo vs
Panama because of their relevance. In addition, the report includes two additional
cases decided recently, namely: 19 Merchants vs Colombia and Alfonso Martin del Campo
Dodd vs Mexico. The 19 Merchants Case is the first case decided by the Inter-American
Court in which the link between ‘paramilitary’ groups operating in Colombia and
the security forces of that country is established. The second case, Martin del Campo
Dodd, was the first case submitted by the Commission against Mexico and the first
one in which the Court rejected consideration of the merits for lack of jurisdiction
after the infamous Cayara vs Peru Case.
1
In future submissions we will consider the issues raised by the other cases
decided by the Court in 2004, if necessary.
The full text of the reported decisions can be found in the website of the Inter-
American Court at www.corteidh.or.cr.
Myrna Mack Chang vs Guatemala, judgement of 25 November 2003
The Inter-American Commission submitted this case against Guatemala on 19 June
2001. The Commission and the petitioners alleged violations of Articles 4 (right to
life), 8 (right to a fair trial), 25 (judicial protection) all in combination with
Article 1(1) (obligation to respect rights) of the American Convention on Human
Rights (hereinafter ‘American Convention’ or ‘Convention’).
Myrna Mack Chang, a Guatemalan national and social psychologist, studied
internally displaced persons and the situation of the Comunidades de Poblacio
´nen
Resistencia in Guatemala during the armed conflict. She was also a founding member
of the Asociacio
´n para el Avance de las Ciencias Sociales, an organisation created to
* Co-Director of the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and Professorial Lecturer in
Residence of the American University, Washington College of Law.
1
The Cayara Case was decided on 3 February 2003.
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