Bleier v. Uruguay

Irene Bleier Lewenhoff submitted a communication identifying Uruguay (defendant) as the perpetrator of her father’s forced disappearance. Irene alleged that her father, Eduardo Bleier (plaintiff), was arrested in October 1975 by Uruguayan officials without a court order. The officials did not admit arresting Bleier and held him in at a secret location. Bleier’s name did appear on a list of prisoners at an army unit in Montevideo for several months in 1976. The list was read out weekly, and Bleier’s family members would pick up his dirty clothes and leave him clean clothes. Lewenhoff alleged that Bleier was also subject to cruel treatment and torture because of his Jewish ethnicity. Lewenhoff’s allegations were supported by the testimony of current and former detainees who had been held with Bleier, who reported the torture Bleier experienced. For example, the detainees reported being forced to bury Bleier in the ground and walk over him. As a result, Bleier was hospitalized in a military hospital around December 1975. Uruguayan officials never responded to letters from individuals or organizations regarding Bleier’s condition. In 1978 and again in 1980, five years after Bleier’s arrest, Uruguay responded to the Human Rights Committee (the committee), indicating that there continued to be a warrant out for Bleier’s arrest and that officials still did not know where Bleier was. Uruguay did not provide any additional information or explanations in response to the testimony of the detainees who reported being held in captivity with Bleier. Uruguay ignored multiple requests from the committee to conduct a thorough inquiry.