The petition and case system

55. 
    On October 22, 2003, by Report No. 91/03, the Commission approved a friendly settlement agreement in the case of Juan Ángel Greco.  In summary, the petitioners alleged that on June 25, 1990, Mr. Greco, 24 years of age, was illegally detained and mistreated when he sought to obtain police assistance when lodging a complaint regarding an assault. The petitioners indicated that while Mr. Greco was detained at the police station in Puerto Vilelas, province of Chaco, there was a fire in his cell in circumstances that were not clarified that led him to suffer serious burns. In addition, they argued that the police were responsible for provoking the fire and for delaying the transfer of the victim to the hospital for several hours. Mr. Greco was hospitalized until his death on July 4, 1990, and buried, according to the petitioners’ complaint, without an adequate autopsy. The petitioners also noted that the state did not perform an adequate investigation to clarify the facts adduced, with which it denied the family its right to have justice done, and to obtain compensation.
    

56. 
    In this agreement the State agreed to the following:
    

1. Provide economic reparation to the family members of Juan Ángel Greco in the sum of three hundred thousand pesos ($300,000) that shall be paid to Mrs. Zulma Basitanini de Greco in the amount of thirty thousand ($30,000) per month in the time period specified in point 3 of the present item, that amount comprising material damages, moral damages, lost wages, costs, fees and any other classification that would arise from the responsibility assumed by the Province of Chaco.

9. Further emphasize the work of the Organ of Institutional Control (O.C.I) created by Article 35 of the Organic Police Law of the Province of Chaco Nº 4.987, directing it toward the more effective protection of human rights on the part of the Provincial Police. At the initiative of the Executive, the Provincial Counsel for Education and Promotion of Human Rights created by Law Nº 4.912 was constituted in the sphere of the Chamber of Deputies. The representatives of the distinct intervening organs and powers have already been designated and convoked.

57. 
    On November 13, 2009, the Commission asked the parties to submit up-to-date information on the status of compliance with the recommendations.
    

58. 
    Regarding the monetary reparations, as indicated in previous submissions, the State reported in its reply that through Decree 19/2004, the provincial executive authorized the Administration Directorate of the Ministry of the Government, Justice, and Labor to pay Mrs. Zulma Bastianini de Greco the amount of three hundred thousand pesos ($300,000), to be delivered in ten equal, monthly, and consecutive payments of thirty thousand pesos ($30,000) within the first ten (10) business days of each month. In addition, on March 1, 2005, the Minister of Government, Justice, and Labor of the province of Chaco reported that the tenth of the payments ordered by Decree 19/04 had been made on October 29, 2004. In that decree, the provincial executive expressly stated that the compensation payments would be subject to no current or future tax, levy, or duty.
    

59. 
    Regarding the nonmonetary reparations, the State reported that as stipulated by Decree 19/2004, the friendly settlement agreement was published in two national daily newspapers (Clarín and Ámbito Financiero) and four local papers (Norte, El Diario, Primera Línea, and La Voz del Chaco). Regarding the commitment to continuing to pursue legislative and administrative measures for the better protection of human rights, the State spoke of the creation, on May 16, 2006, of the Special Criminal Prosecutor’s Office for Human Rights (Law 5702), which is currently operational. Finally, the State again notes that in this case, it reopened the criminal trial and administrative summary proceedings pursued against Principal Police Commissioner Juan Carlos Escobar, Deputy Police Commissioner Adolfo Eduardo Valdez, and First Sergeant Julio Ramón Obregon, in order to identify the corresponding responsibilities, and it also states that the case files are at the evidentiary phase.
    

60. 
    Regarding the judicial and administrative investigations, the petitioners indicated in their submission of December 10, 2009, that, as of that date, they had not received the certified and legalized copy of the criminal case or of the administrative summary proceedings from the State, nor had they received up-to-date information on the status of those processes, as required by the commitment set out in item 2 of the friendly settlement agreement. With regard to item 7 of the agreement, the petitioners reiterated their remarks about the serious shortcomings in the powers and authorities conferred on the office of the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights by Law No. 5702. They also reported that they had learned that in June 2009, the special prosecutor’s office had begun operations with very limited jurisdiction, in spite of their express request for the personnel selection process to be put on hold until the functions of the office were reviewed. In concluding, the petitioners noted that until the State provides full information on the measures adopted, they must again note the appalling precedent that the agreement represents in the Argentine government’s observance of its commitments acquired through friendly settlements.
    

61. 
    With respect to the commitments acquired by the State, the Commission has already identified the aspects of the friendly settlement agreement dealing with the monetary compensation and with the publication of the agreement as having been met. However, based on the information received, the Commission believes that the aspects relating to the duty of investigating and punishing those responsible for violating the human rights violations of Juan Ángel Greco, together with those relating to the affording the victim’s next-of-kin access to the judicial and administrative investigations, still remain pending.
    

62. 
    In view of the foregoing, the IACHR concludes that the friendly settlement agreement has been implemented in part. Accordingly, the Commission will continue to monitor the items still pending compliance.