8 2. Article 63(2) of the American Convention provides that, in “cases of extreme gravity and urgency, and when necessary to avoid irreparable damage to persons,” the Court may, in matters not yet submitted to the Court, upon a request by the Commission, order the provisional measures it deems pertinent. 3. In this regard, Article 25 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court provides that: 1. At any stage of the proceedings involving cases of extreme gravity and urgency, and when necessary to avoid irreparable damage to persons, the Court may, at the request of a party or on its own motion, order such provisional measures as it deems pertinent, pursuant to Article 63(2) of the Convention. 2. With respect to matters not yet submitted to it, the Court may act at the request of the Commission. 4. Under International Human Rights Law, the nature of provisional measures is not only preventive, in the sense that they preserve a juridical situation, but also fundamentally protective, because they protect human rights. Provided that the basic requirements of extreme gravity and urgency and of preventing irreparable damage to persons are met, provisional measures become a true preventive jurisditional guarantee.1 5. Article 1(1) of the Convention sets forth the general obligation of the States Party to respect the rights and freedoms embodied in that Convention and to ensure the free and full exercise of those rights and freedoms by all persons under their jurisdiction, which carries with it the duty to adopt security measures necessary for their protection. These obligations become even more evident in connection with those who are involved in proceedings before the oversight bodies of the American Convention.2 6. In light of the responsibility of the State to adopt security measures to protect persons who are under its jurisdiction, the Court deems that this duty is more evident with respect to persons incarcerated in a State detention center, in which case the responsibility of the State must be presumed regarding what happens to those who are under its custody.3 7. Pursuant to the Court Order (supra “Having seen” 3), the State must adopt measures to protect the life and personal safety of all inmates at the Urso Branco Prison, including that of seizing all weapons that are in the hands of inmates, and investigating the facts that gave rise to adoption of the provisional measures, with the aim of identifying those responsible and punishing them accordingly. 1 See Urso Branco Prison Case., Provisional Measures. June 18, 2002 Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, ninth Considering; Case of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, Provisional Measures. June 18, 2002 Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, fourth Considering; Gallardo Rodríguez Case, Provisional Measures. February 14, 2002 Order of the President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, fifth Considering. 2 See Case of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, Provisional Measures. June 18, 2002 Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, tenth Considering; Gallardo Rodríguez Case, Provisional Measures. February 18, 2002 Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, sixth Considering; Gallardo Rodríguez Case, Provisional Measures. February 14, 2002 Order of President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, seventh Considering. 3 See Urso Branco Prison Case, Provisional Measures. June 18, 2002 Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, eighth Considering.