Tribunales Especiales de Justicia, which depended directly on the executive (poder ejecutivo) and prosecuted many former civil servants for the socalled crime of conspiracy (delito de asociación para delinquir) merely because they had been civil servants during the Somoza administration. includes, at the stage of the determination of the admissibility of a communication, the provision of sufficiently detailed information about remedies pursued by, as well as remedies still available, to victims of alleged violations of their rights. The State party did not forward such information. On the basis of the information before it, the Committee concluded that there are no further effective remedies available to Roberto Zelaya in the circumstances of his case. 6.3 With regard to the confiscation of his property, the author invokes article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which protects the right to property, and points out that the confiscation decrees of the Sandinista Government had been signed by many of the current members of the Government, including the new President, Mrs. Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, in particular Decree No. 38 of 8 August 1979, which provided for the expropriation of former civil servants of the Somoza administration, including the medical doctors and dentists in the service of the Somoza family. The author lists three pieces of real property which he had owned and which were confiscated by the Sandinista Government and subsequently sold to third parties. The author alleges that the new Government is applying dilatory tactics to frustrate the restitution of such property, and rendering the process so complicated that claimants eventually abandon their claims because of the expense involved in attempting to recuperate their property. The author concludes that what was confiscated by way of administrative measures ought to be returned to the rightful owners also by administrative decree. The author further alleges discrimination in that the confiscated property of persons who were United States citizens before 19 July 1979 has been returned, whereas the property formerly owned by Nicaraguan citizens can only be recovered through onerous litigation. 5.3 The Committee observed that the authorities of any State party to the Covenant are under an obligation to investigate alleged human rights violations and to make available appropriate judicial remedies and compensation to victims of such violations, even if they are attributable to a previous administration. 5.4 The Committee considered that the authors' allegations had been sufficiently substantiated, for purposes of admissibility, and that they raised issues under articles 7, 9, 10, 14 and 17 of the Covenant. 5.5 On 20 March 1992, the Human Rights Committee decided that the communication was admissible inasmuch as it appeared to raise issues under articles 7, 9, 10, 14 and 17 of the Covenant. The State party's observations and the authors' comments thereon 6.1 On 27 July 1992, the State party submitted that the new Government had embarked on a process of national reconciliation, without revanchism. At the same time, Nicaragua's independent judiciary now exercises an eminent role in protecting human rights. Since Mr. Zelaya enjoys all civil and political rights in Nicaragua, he is at liberty to demand compensation or any other remedy he may consider appropriate. 6.4 With regard to his detention, the author claims that it was unlawful and arbitrary and that he was denied due process by the revolutionary tribunals. He encloses excerpts from the Amnesty International report entitled Nicaragua: Derechos Humanos 19861989, which specifically refers to its own investigation of the Zelaya case. The report concluded: 6.2 On 5 October 1992, Roberto Zelaya Blanco responded that he could not expect to receive any compensation from ad hoc tribunals in Nicaragua, heirs of the Tribunales Especiales de Justicia, which had convicted him and others without due process. In particular, he disputes the State party's submission that the Nicaraguan judiciary is now independent, because many judges, including those sitting in the Supreme Court, are political appointees of the former Sandinista Government. Moreover, he contends that if the new government were committed to impartial justice, it would have prosecuted motu proprio those responsible for crimes, corruption and other abuses during the years of the Sandinista administration. He further questions the commitment to human rights of the Government of Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, since she herself, as member of the then Sandinista Government (miembro de la Junta de Gobierno de Reconstrucción Nacional), had signed Decree No. 185 of 29 November 1979, which established the "After examining the judgment and interviewing the prisoner in November 1987, Amnesty International arrived at the conclusion that there was no evidence that could prove the criminal charges against him: no victim had been identified in relation to the accusation of murder, and as to the other charges, the victim had been only referred to as 'the people of Nicaragua'. It would seem that the conviction was predicated on Mr. Zelaya Blanco's open anti-Sandinista position in the pre-revolutionary period and on his various 1 journalistic publications ..." 1 Amnesty International, Nicaragua: Derechos Humanos 1986-1989 (London, November 1989), pp. 13-4. 32