IACHR publishes merits report on the case of Anastasio Hernández Rojas (United States)

May 1, 2025

Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has published Admissibility and Merits Report No. 60/25 on Case 14.042 concerning the United States of America's international responsibility for violating Anastasio Hernández Roja's rights to life, personal integrity, and access to justice.

Anastasio Hernández Rojas, a Mexican migrant, died in 2010 after being detained by US Customs and Border Protection agents. According to the petition filed with the IACHR in 2016, he was arrested, brutally beaten, electrocuted with a taser-type weapon, tied up, and held down by multiple agents despite being unarmed and injured.

The report acknowledges that the incident occurred in a broader context of discrimination against people in situations of human mobility, particularly those of Latin American origin. This discrimination has been reflected in the disproportionate use of force by state border security agents and in the subsequent failure to investigate or sanction those responsible for such actions.

The IACHR found that the use of force in this case was unnecessary and disproportionate, given that Mr. Hernández Rojas was unarmed, restrained, and posed no threat. It also emphasized that the treatment he received—especially the use of tasers in stun mode—amounted to acts of torture. The IACHR also observed that Mr. Hernández Rojas was denied appropriate medical care. It argued that the State has an obligation to ensure the right to health for individuals being deprived of their freedom and concluded that his death was a direct result of violence perpetrated by state agents.

The IACHR also found that US laws governing the use of force lacked the clear parameters and limits necessary to effectively safeguard human rights. Specifically, the legislation allowed the use of force—including lethal force—based on each agent's "reasonable belief" that such force was necessary to defend themselves or others against an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm. The IACHR found that this discretionary standard can lead to violations of rights. Furthermore, the IACHR observed that the regulation in question failed to require an assessment of proportionality, did not clearly distinguish between general and lethal force, and allowed arbitrary use of taser-type weapons.

The IACHR identified serious flaws in the criminal investigation, including failure to collect evidence and the destruction of this, bias in the opening of the investigation, and a lack of measures to ensure the victim's family could participate in the proceedings.

Given the above, the IACHR concluded that the case reflects not only a context of structural discrimination but also the State's failure to adopt measures that account for the intersection of multiple vulnerabilities—in this case, Mr. Hernández Rojas's status as a migrant, a Latino man, and a person being deprived of their liberty.

Finally, the IACHR noted that although the parties had reached a domestic settlement agreement, this did not limit the organization's jurisdiction under international instruments, without disregarding the legal effect the settlement may have domestically and its impact on reparations.

Based on its findings, the IACHR concluded that the United States is responsible for violating the rights to life, personal integrity, health, justice, and humane treatment during deprivation of freedom, as enshrined in articles I, XI, XVII, and XXV of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, to the detriment of Anastasio Hernández Rojas, his wife María de Jesús Puga Morán, and their children Yeimi Judith, Daisy Alejandra, Fabián Anastasio, Daniel, and Daniela Hernández. In response, the IACHR issued a series of recommendations.

In December 2024, the IACHR sent the Merits Report to the United States and requested a response on measures taken to comply within two months. No reply was received. In March 2025, the IACHR approved its Final Merits Report and gave the United States three additional weeks to respond. Again, no response was received.

As a result, the IACHR reiterates its recommendations to the United States to provide full reparations for the human rights violations identified in the report; reopen the criminal investigation in an effective and timely manner, with a view to fully clarifying the facts, identifying all responsible parties, and applying appropriate sanctions; and ensure access to mental health care, in consultation with the victim's family. The IACHR also renewed its recommendation to adopt guarantees of nonrepetition, including: aligning the legal framework on the use of force with international standards; ensuring victim participation and transparency in criminal proceedings; improving conditions of detention, particularly at border facilities; restricting the use of tasers in line with principles of necessity and proportionality, and banning their use in stun mode; and training law enforcement officers in human rights, use of force, and intersectional approaches.

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. 085/25

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