The Ninety-Fifth Regular Session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ended on March 14, 1997. At this session, the Commission reviewed the status of several files that are being processed for human rights violations, and, taking into account the status of those files, approved various reports on individual cases involving a number of countries.
The first relates to those cases involving States run by governments that have not assumed power through popular elections by means of a secret, authentic, periodic, and free voting process, in accordance with internationally accepted legal guidelines.
The second involves States where the free exercise of the rights enshrined in the American Convention or in the American Declaration have, in effect, been totally or partially suspended, owing to the imposition of exceptional measures such as a state of emergency, a state of siege, the suspension of guarantees, and other measures.
The third pertains to a situation where evidence exists that a State is committing massive and serious violations of the rights guaranteed in the American Convention, the American Declaration, and in other applicable instruments. In this case, the violation of rights that cannot be suspended, such as summary executions, torture, and forced disappearance are cause for special concern.
The fourth pertains to States that are in a process of transition with respect to any of the three aforementioned situations. Using these points as a basis, the Commission included a section on the human rights situation in some member states in Chapter V of the Annual Report to the OAS.
Bolivia situations
During this session, consideration was given to the request from Bolivia for an on-site visit by the Commission to that country in order to obtain information on the events that occurred in Capasirca and Amayapampa in December 1996. To this end, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Bolivia to the Organization of American States, Ambassador Carlos Casap, also appeared before the plenary session of the Commission to reiterate to its members the request of its Government.
In this regard, the IACHR informed the Government of Bolivia that it was showing the utmost willingness to cooperate with the democratic governments of the hemisphere in promoting and protecting human rights and, in light of this, it had decided to conduct the aforementioned on-site visit.
On April 26, 1997, in response to an invitation from the Government of Bolivia, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights began an on-site visit aimed at investigating events that occurred in December 1996 in Amayapampa, Llallagua, and Capasirca in the northern part of the Department of Potosí.
The visit by the Inter-American Commission is being carried out under the legal framework of the American Convention on Human Rights and its Regulations and the Commission's findings will be presented in a report indicating whether or not it considers the Bolivian State responsible. The Delegation sent by the Commission comprises its Chairman, Ambassador John S. Donaldson and Commissioners Dean Claudio Grossman and Jean Joseph Exume.
During its stay in Bolivia, the Commission will interview Government authorities, members of Congress, representatives of organizations dedicated to the defense and promotion of human rights, trade union leaders, relatives of persons who died in the events in Amayapampa, Llallagua and Capasirca, and a group of those who were wounded. The Commission will also receive the testimonies of police and military officers involved in those events.
On April 28, 1997, after completing its visit, the IACHR delegation will return to headquarters in Washington, D.C., and proceed to study and evaluate its findings, with a view to preparing a final report.
During this trip, part of the Delegation visited the scene of the events on Thursday, May 1, carrying out an inspection and collecting numerous testimonies from miners and farmworkers in the area. The Commission also met at the Siglo XX University in Llallagua, with relatives of persons who died in the events and with a group of those wounded, and travelled to Amayapampa and Capasirca, where it gathered testimony from trade union leaders and farmworkers.
The IACHR also held meetings with the Human Rights Committee of the Chamber of Deputies. It met Committee Chairman, Dr. Juan Del Granado, and Deputies Jorge Albarracín, Lucio Felipez, Jorge Suárez, Rosario Paz Ballivian and Luis Vázquez Villamor. Senators Gonzalo Balda Cárdenas, Joaquín Aguirre Lavayen, Luis Lema Molina, Martín Quiroz Alcalá, Raúl Gallo, Valentín Abecia, and Walter Zuleta Roncal also had meetings with the IACHR.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights also received abundant testimony and information from civilians, including Dr. Waldo Albarracín, Chairman of the Permanent Assembly on Human Rights and Román Loayza of the United Bolivian Farmworkers' Confederation [Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia] (CSUTCB).
The extensive investigations carried out by the IACHR during this on-site visit and the testimony received during it afford a complete picture of the complex and tragic events that took place in the northern part of the Department of Potosí in December 1996. As the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights pointed out in its first press release, this on-site visit was carried out under the legal framework of the American Convention on Human Rights and its Regulations and the Commission's findings will be presented in a report indicating whether or not it considers the Bolivian State responsible.
On May 2, 1997, the Special Rapporteur, jointly with the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, sent an urgent appeal on behalf of Waldo Albarracín, a lawyer and President of the Permanent Human Rights Assembly of Bolivia, who was detained in La Paz by eight police officers and threatened with death.
The Special Rapporteur was informed that this event might have been related to public statements by Waldo Albarracín concerning a clash between miners and the police in the Department of Potosí, which left nine dead (6 February 1997).
The Special Rapporteur sent another urgent appeal on his behalf on being informed that the threats had not stopped.
In the same communication the Special Rapporteur asked that steps also be taken to protect the physical integrity and right to life of Mr. Juan Del Granado, a lawyer and Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Chamber of Deputies. Mr. Del Granado had reportedly received calls threatening him with death or disappearance. The threats might be related to Mr. Del Granado's public condemnation of the abduction of Waldo Albarracín (24 February 1997).
The Special Rapporteur also transmitted allegations he had received of violations of the right to life of the following miners and peasants: Ercilia López, José Gutiérrez, Marcial Calla, Galo Luna, José Espinosa,
Wilmer González, aged 15, Santos Casio Padilla and Miguel Choque, aged 15, who were killed by members of the police and military on 17 December 1996 when peasants and miners occupied the Amayapampa and Chiquita-Capacirca mines in Potosí, to confront the exploitative mining companies and demand their rights.
The Government of Bolivia informed the Special Rapporteur that Mr. Waldo Albarracín enjoyed complete freedom and that the reasons for his temporary detention were being investigated by the Committee on the Constitution and Judicial Police of the National Congress (7 March 1997 and 12 May 1997).
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