The injuries of Eduardo Rojas Arce produced in the ambush carried out by Peruvian troops is a clear case of impact on personal integrity in the terms of the American Convention. Also, all the earlier considerations relating to the application of common article 3 of the Geneva Conventions are fully applicable in the case of Eduardo Rojas, as any attack on the bodily integrity of civilians not participating directly in hostilities is prohibited. Freedom of thought and expression 67. Freedom of thought and expression is a basic right in the inter-American system for the protection of human rights. Every person has a right to freedom of research, of opinion and of expression and of dissemination of thought in any medium.
Every person has a right to freedom of thought and expression.
This right includes the freedom to seek, receive, and disseminate information and ideas of every sort, without regard to borders, either orally or in written, printed, or artistic form, or by any other procedure of his choice. This language establishes that those to whom the Convention applies not only have the right and freedom to express their own thoughts but also the right and freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds. The right protected by Article 13 consequently has a special scope and character, which are evidenced by the dual aspect of freedom of expression. It requires, on the one hand, that no one be arbitrarily limited or impeded in expressing his own thoughts. In that sense, it is a right that belongs to each individual.