IACHR Publishes Report on Case of Faustino Jiménez in Mexico, Concerning Disappearance and Torture

October 13, 2021

Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) plans to approve friendly settlement agreement 208/21 in Case 12,610—Faustino Jiménez, Mexico, and to publish the relevant report. This agreement was signed on September 27, 2012, by the State and by representatives of the victim and his family. The petition that was filed before the IACHR in 2002 concerns the State's international responsibility for violations of the rights of Faustino Jiménez Álvarez, who was alleged to have been illegally arrested and tortured by police officers in the state of Guerrero and has been missing since.

In 2007, the Commission issued Admissibility Report 31/07 on this case. The IACHR found that the petition was admissible concerning alleged violations of the rights held in Articles 4 (right to life), 5 (right to humane treatment), 7 (right to personal liberty), 8 (right to a fair trial), and 25 (right to judicial protection) of the American Convention on Human Rights; in articles 1 (obligation to prevent and punish torture), 6 (obligation to take effective measures to prevent and punish torture), and 8 (obligation to provide safeguards for any person who says they have been tortured) of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture; and articles I (State commitment to take action to prevent forced disappearance), III (obligation to define the forced disappearance of persons as an offense and to punish it accordingly), and XI (obligation to hold individuals who are deprived of liberty in officially recognized places of detention) of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons.

Five years later, the parties signed a friendly settlement agreement where the State acknowledged its international responsibility for human rights violations that stemmed from the events held in the Admissibility Report. The State also committed to providing financial compensation, investigating these events to punish anyone found responsible for them, publicly acknowledging its responsibility for these events, and ensuring redress measures including medical and psychological assistance, educational support, support for a productive endeavor, financial support, and housing support for the family of Faustino Jiménez.

In Friendly Settlement Report 208/21, the Commission highlighted that full compliance had been attained with commitments concerning financial compensation, public recognition of the events in this case, medical and psychological assistance, educational support, support for a productive endeavor, and financial support. The Commission further noted that commitments concerning housing support had attained substantial partial compliance and that investigation of events in this case and efforts to punish the people responsible for them had attained partial compliance. This friendly settlement agreement has therefore been approved as having attained substantial partial compliance. The Commission will continue to supervise compliance with the agreement until full implementation is attained. The IACHR urges the State to take any action needed to achieve full compliance.

The Commission closely monitored the implementation of this friendly settlement and highly commends both parties on their efforts during negotiations. The Commission further commends the State on its efforts to solve cases that are taken before the petition and case system—through its friendly settlement mechanism—and on the substantial partial implementation of this friendly settlement agreement.

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

No. 272/21

2:55 PM