IACHR Congratulates State of Mexico on Full Compliance with the Friendly Settlement Agreement Regarding José Antonio Bolaños Juárez

March 11, 2021

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Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) announced its decision to declare full compliance with Friendly Settlement Report No. 106/19 on Case 12.986, regarding José Antonio Bolaños Juárez.

The case concerns the Mexican State's international responsibility for the arbitrary detention, torture and cruel and inhuman treatment, and arbitrary criminal conviction of José Antonio Bolaños Juárez by the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic in 2001. In Admissibility Report No. 7/15, the IACHR concluded that it was competent to hear the case regarding the alleged violations of the rights enshrined in articles 5 (humane treatment), 7 (personal freedom), 8 (right to a fair trial), and 25 (judicial protection) of the American Convention on Human Rights in accordance with articles 1.1 (obligation to respect rights) and articles 1, 6, and 8 of the American Convention on Human Rights.

On June 27, 2018, the parties signed a friendly settlement agreement that was approved by the IACHR on June 28, 2019. As part of the verification process, the IACHR monitored the implementation of the Friendly Settlement Agreement. To this end, it assessed the actions taken by the Mexican State to comply with the commitments it had taken on in the agreement. It verified that the beneficiaries have been affiliated to the People's Health Service and included in the National Registry of Victims (RENAVI) run by the CEAV and that they have access to medical and psychological care. Furthermore, on June 27, 2019, a private ceremony was held at which the State acknowledged its international responsibility for the events and apologized for them. This ceremony was attended by State agencies and the victim and his family and was publicized via the website, on the radio, and through other media. The IACHR also verified that Mr. Bolaños's criminal record had been expunged and that the beneficiaries had received compensation for material and nonmaterial damages. Finally, it ascertained that the State had complied with the commitment to provide ongoing training courses against torture for officials working at the Attorney General's Office of the Republic.

The IACHR monitored the development of this friendly settlement closely and was extremely appreciative of both parties' efforts during the negotiation process and the subsequent follow-up stage. By virtue of the information provided by the parties during the process of monitoring implementation of the friendly settlement agreement, the IACHR ruled that this had been fully complied with and thus decided to end its monitoring of the compliance process.

The IACHR applauds the efforts that the Mexican state has made to reach solutions through the individual petition and case system's friendly settlement mechanism and congratulates it on having fully implemented this friendly settlement agreement. It also wishes to congratulate the petitioning party on the efforts it made to move the friendly settlement process forward.

The IACHR is a principal and autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), whose mandate derives from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote the observance and defense of human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The IACHR is composed of seven independent members who are elected by the OAS General Assembly in their personal capacity, and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 059/21