Velásquez-Rodriguez Case
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. (ser. C) No. 4 (1988)
- Written by Elliot Stern, JD
Facts
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the commission) received a petition on behalf of Manfredo Velásquez against the state of Honduras. According to the petition, Velásquez, a university student, had been detained without a warrant by members of the armed forces of Honduras. The petition further alleged that Velásquez had been interrogated, tortured, and executed by the armed forces. The commission submitted a case to the Inter-American Court on Human Rights (the court) to determine if Honduras had violated Velásquez’s rights to life, to humane treatment, and to personal liberty under the American Convention on Human Rights (the convention). The court heard testimony regarding a pattern of conduct by Honduran army units, which would regularly use unlicensed vehicles to kidnap and detain people from public places; bring the individuals to secret prisons; and harshly interrogate, torture, and sometimes execute the detainees. Evidence of these activities was concealed. The individuals detained in this manner were often considered by Honduran officials to be dangerous to state security. Further, the evidence showed that Velásquez had been kidnapped from a parking lot by armed men in civilian clothes using a van without a license plate. Velásquez was involved in activities considered by state official to be dangerous to national security. Velásquez’s whereabouts in the seven years following the kidnapping were unknown, and there was no evidence that he had been kidnapped by common criminals. Honduras maintained that the evidence did not prove that Honduran officials were involved in Velásquez’s disappearance. However, Honduras failed to investigate the fate of Velásquez and did not provide evidence with respect to the merits of the case.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
What to do next…
Here's why 802,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.