IACHR publishes merits report on Argentina concerning conviction of a teenager without the right to appeal

August 15, 2025

Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has published Merits Report No. 111/25 for Case 13.079, concerning the State of Argentina's international responsibility for imposing a prison sentence on Diego Armando Pacheco without granting him the right to appeal.

The petition was received on May 12, 2004, and concerns Diego Armando Pacheco, who was sentenced to four years in prison for an offense he committed at the age of 17. In its Merits Report, the IACHR concluded that the State failed to guarantee his right to appeal the conviction during the judicial proceedings. The grounds for this decision were that the legal remedies presented by Diego Armando Pacheco's defense were declared inadmissible due to legal restrictions that prevented a full review of the ruling. These legal restrictions and judicial practices limited Diego Armando Pacheco's access to an effective remedy to an unreasonable extent, making it impossible to examine questions of fact, evaluate evidence, and implement due process.

The IACHR also found the convictions handed down to Pacheco to contain stigmatizing elements based on assessments of his personality and social environment, which created a biased view that ran counter to child protection standards. Furthermore, it determined that the prison sentence was not based exclusively on the offense in question, as required by the principle of legality and the right to personal liberty, but rather on the supposed failure of prior protective measures and on preventive arguments about the risk of reoffending, which were unrelated to the specific case for which Diego Armando Pacheco was being tried.

The IACHR also noted that Diego Armando Pacheco was deprived of his freedom without the consideration of alternative or key principles such as the exceptional nature of incarceration, legality, and social reintegration, all of which are essential in criminal proceedings against adolescents.

The IACHR therefore concluded that Argentina is responsible for violating the right to appeal a criminal conviction, the right not to be subjected to arbitrary detention or imprisonment, the principle of legality, and the duty to adopt special protective measures for adolescents in conflict with the law, as set out in articles 8.2(h), 7.3, 9, and 19 of the American Convention on Human Rights, in connection with articles 1.1 and 2.

In light of this, the IACHR recommended that the State provide full reparation to Diego Armando Pacheco, guarantee him access to an effective remedy allowing for a broad review of his conviction, and adapt its juvenile criminal legislation so that adolescents aged 16 to 18 are tried in different proceedings to those of adults, in line with the principles of the best interests of the child, proportionality, legality, exceptionality, and a specialized approach to sentencing adolescents.

In response, the parties signed a Compliance Agreement in which they agreed to establish an ad hoc arbitral tribunal to determine the amount of the financial compensation in question. As a result, the IACHR decided not to submit the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and proceeded with the publication of the Merits Report.

The State subsequently reported progress on implementing the recommendations, including the expungement of Diego Armando Pacheco's criminal record; the entry into force in 2005 of the new Criminal Procedure Code of the Province of Chubut, which establishes special rules with differentiated standards for the trial of children and adolescents; and confirmation from the victim that he did not wish to bring the case before the courts.

The IACHR welcomes these advances and the State's commitment. However, since it has yet to receive information on the creation of the arbitral tribunal or the payment of financial compensation, the IACHR reiterated its recommendation that the victim be fully compensated and will continue to monitor compliance.

The IACHR is a principal and autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), whose mandate stems from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has the mandate to promote the observance and defense of human rights in the region and acts as an advisory body to the OAS on the matter. The IACHR is made up of seven independent members who are elected by the OAS General Assembly in their personal capacity, and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 163/25

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