clandestine logging in the Petatlán hills,” the State argued that “the witness does
not provide any grounds whatsoever for his assertions.” Moreover, the State
pointed out that the “witness recognizes that he was not directly involved in the
events of this case and that the advice provided by Greenpeace to the alleged
victims began a long time afterwards,” for which reason the State asked the Court
to take into account only those statements exclusively related to the period when
“the witness was [directly] involved in the case.” With regard to these aspects, the
Court considers that they do not compromise the admissibility of this witness
statement, given that the State itself acknowledges the witness’ involvement in this
case. The scope of his statement shall be assessed, if applicable, together with the
rest of the body of evidence, taking into account the State’s comments and the
object of the litigation.
43.
The Court notes that the State objected to some of the testimonies, mainly
because the witnesses refer to facts that were seemingly outside the scope of this
case, or because there would be evidence against their affirmations. Since these
observations refer to the merits of the dispute, the Court shall assess, in the
appropriate chapter of the Judgment, the content of the witness statements,
insofar as these refer to the object duly specified by the President of the Court in
this case (supra para. 8), taking into account the body of evidence, the
observations of the State and the rules of sound judgment.
44.
As to the expert reports, in relation to Mr. Tramsen’s report, the State
argued that it was not admissible to require it, since it had already been assessed
by various judicial bodies, in decisions which were not appealed by the
representatives of the petitioners; that this would imply a review of the
proceedings conducted by the national judicial authorities, and that it lacks a
methodology, among other arguments about its shortcomings. The Court
emphasizes that the State reiterated arguments on the admissibility of the report
which have already been decided by the Court in its decision to reject the request
to reconsider the matter (supra para. 26(3)). Consequently, the Court has already
ruled on the controversy about the admissibility of the report and shall assess the
other arguments against this evidence when deciding on the merits of the case.
45.
Regarding Mr. Carbonell’s expert report, the State pointed out that “it was
prepared for another case” which “has no relation whatsoever with this case.”
According to the State, “this practice encourages the unnecessary repetition of
arguments,” and therefore it requested that the evidence of this expert be rejected
“since it had not been prepared specifically for this case and, therefore, it does not
have the specificity required in an expert witness’ report.” Furthermore, the State
asked the Court not to consider the report “since the statements included therein
have already been evaluated in extenso” in the case of Radilla Pacheco. In this
regard, the Court notes that such arguments do not prevent the admissibility of the
report and in examining the merits of the case, shall determine to what extent this
opinion is pertinent in resolving some aspects of the dispute.
46.
As regards Mr. Castresana’s expert opinion, the State indicated that “the
statements made by the deponent in Chapter VIII of his brief are not only clearly
outside the objective for which his opinion was requested, but show that the
document is biased and that it lacks objectivity;” for this reason, the State asked
the Court to reject these statements. It added that “the expert witness maliciously
introduced his point of view into the reports issued by the United Nations
Committee on Torture” and, therefore, “they do not adhere to the object of his
statement, invalidating it even further.” As regards the expert witness Piñeyro, the
State indicated that “in his expert report he makes statements that are groundless
[…], making generalizations that show serious lack of objectivity” and that “the
expert witness makes serious charges against the Armed Forces which are also
unfounded, since they are not supported by any evidence.” Regarding the expert
report of Mr. López Portillo Vargas, the State pointed out that “his opinion is false”
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