Woman with disability victim of sexual violence

Jorge Eliécer Álvarez Benítez & another v. Superior Tribunal of Pereira – Criminal Chamber & others

Date:  10/15/2019

Judge-Rapporteur:  Gloria Stella Ortiz Delgado

Concurrence:  Alejandro Linares Cantillo

Dissent:  Luis Guillermo Pérez (partial)

Facts.  The Court decided two joint legal actions filed against judicial decisions to agree on plea bargains entered into the defendants and the prosecutors as part of the respective criminal procedures for sexual violence — SV.  Specifically, in one of the cases, the prosecuting body recognized that the marginalization of the accused was a punitive mitigation circumstance that led to a reduction of the sentence.  This benefit was granted disregarding the condition of cognitive disability of the victim, who, in addition, used to live in a property owned by the defendant.

Issue: Does a marginalized defendant have the right to a favorable plea bargain despite the fact that he was accused of sexual abuse against a woman with cognitive and motor disability   ?

Ruling and reasoning.  No.  The Court GRANTED the protection to the rights of the victims to due process, access to the administration of justice, and the right to be part of the criminal process since its beginning.  In opinion of the Forum, the decision that approved the preliminary agreement made the following errors: i) The circumstances of marginalization of the accused were not proven in the process; and ii) it failed to apply the gender and disability approach when assessing the case.  That is so because the ruling did not carry out any analysis regarding the way in which the crime had been committed.  It did not consider either that the aggressor had taken advantage of the cognitive and motor disability condition of the victim, as well as persistence in sexual harassment after the commission of the crime. Consequently, the Court annulled the orders that had approved the preliminary agreements.