Celis Laureano and to ascertain whether she is still
alive have been exhausted.
2.6 On 24 August 1992, the Commander of the
Huacho Police Station informed the prosecutor's
office that he had received information from the
DINCOTE headquarters in Lima according to which
Ana Celis Laureano was suspected to be the person
in charge of guerrilla activities in the Ambar District,
and that she had participated in the attack on a
military patrol in Parán.
2.13 On 18 September 1992, the case of
Ms. Laureano was registered before the United
Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearances1 (Case No. 015038, transmitted first
to the Peruvian Government on 18 September 1992;
retransmitted on 11 January 1993). In November
1992, the Peruvian Government notified the
Working Group that the Prosecutor's Office in
Huacho (Segunda Fiscalía Provincial Mixta de
Huacho) was investigating the case, but that it had
not yet located Ms. Laureano, nor those responsible
for her disappearance. It added that it had requested
information from the Ministry of Defence and the
Ministry of the Interior. Similar notes dated 13 April
and 29 November 1993 addressed to the Working
Group reiterate that investigations into the case
continue, but that they have been so far inconclusive.
2.7 On 4 September 1992, the author filed a
request for habeas corpus with the Second Criminal
Court (Segundo Juzgado Penal) of Huacho. This
initial petition was not admitted by the judge, on the
ground that the "petitioner should indicate the
location of the police or military office where the
minor is detained, and the exact name of the military
officer in charge [of this office]".
2.8 On 8 September 1992, the Centro de Estudios
y Acción para la Paz (CEAPAZ), intervening on
behalf of the author, petitioned the National Minister
of Defence, requesting him to investigate Ana
Laureano's detention and/or her disappearance; it
pointed out that she was a minor and invoked, in
particular, the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child, ratified by Peru in September
1990. On 16 September 1992, the Secretary-General
of the Ministry of Defence informed CEAPAZ that
he had referred the case to the armed forces, with a
view to carrying out investigations. No further
information was received.
The complaint
3.1 The unlawful detention of Ms. Laureano and
her subsequent disappearance, which the author
attributes to the armed forces of Peru, are said to
amount to violations of articles 6, paragraph 1; 7; 9;
and 10, paragraph 1, of the Covenant.
3.2 Furthermore, it is submitted that the State
party violated article 24, paragraph 1, as it failed to
provide Ana R. Celis Laureano with such measures
of protection as are required by her status as a minor.
The State party's failure to protect her rights, to
investigate in good faith the violations of her rights
and to prosecute and punish those held responsible
for her disappearance is said to be contrary to article
2, paragraphs 1 and 3, of the Covenant.
2.9 On 8 September 1992, CEAPAZ petitioned
the Director of DINCOTE, asking him to verify
whether Ana Celis Laureano had in fact been
detained by its units and whether she had been
brought to one of its quarters. On 15 September
1992, the Director of DINCOTE replied that her
name was not listed in the registers of detained
persons.
State party's information and observations on the
admissibility of the case and counsel's comments
thereon
2.10 A request for information and an investigation
of the case was also sent, on 8 and 9 September
1992, to the Director of the Human Rights
Secretariat of the Ministry of Defence, to the
Minister of the Interior and the commanders of the
military bases in Andahuasi and Antabamba. No
reply was given to these petitions.
4.1 In a submission dated 10 June 1993, the State
party draws on information provided by the Peruvian
Ministry of Defence. The latter notes that in
December 1992 investigations carried out by the
security and armed forces confirmed that members
of the military base in Ambar had arrested
Ana R. Celis Laureano in June 1992. She allegedly
had confessed her participation in an armed attack on
a military patrol in Parán on 6 May 1992 and pointed
out where the guerrillas had hidden arms and
ammunition. In July 1992, she was handed over to
the Chief of the PNP in Huacho and subsequently to
the prosecuting authorities of the same town; she
was charged, inter alia, with participation in a
2.11 On 30 September 1992, the author applied for
habeas corpus with the presiding judge of the Second
Criminal Chamber of the District High Court
(Segundo Sala Penal de la Corte Superior del
Distrito Judicial de Callao), asking him to admit the
application and to direct the judge of the court in
Huacho to comply with the habeas corpus order. It
remains unclear whether any proceedings were
instituted by the judicial authorities in respect of this
application.
1
2.12 In the light of the above, it is contended that
all available domestic remedies to locate Ana R.
Established by the Commission on Human Rights in
its resolution 20 (XXXVI) of 29 February 1980.
64
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