91
establishes for those who, because of their physical and emotional development,
require special protection.151
148. As it examines this case, this Court will take this factor into particular account
and will decide the question of the alleged violations of other Convention-protected
rights in light of the added obligations that Article 19 impose upon the State. To
establish the content and scope of this article, the Court will take into consideration
the pertinent provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Paraguay
ratified on September 25, 1990 and that entered into force on September 2, 1990,
and the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area
of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Protocol of San Salvador), which Paraguay
ratified on June 3, 1997 and which entered into force on November 16, 1999. These
instruments and the American Convention are part of a very comprehensive
international corpus juris for the protection of children that the Court must honor.152
149. The examination of the State’s possible failure to comply with its obligations
under Article 19 of the American Convention should take into account that the
measures of which this provision speaks go well beyond the sphere of strictly civil
and political rights. The measures that the State must undertake, particularly given
the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, encompass economic,
social and cultural aspects that pertain, first and foremost, to the children’s right to
life and right to humane treatment.
150. Therefore, in the instant case the Court will not rule on the possible
violation of Article 19 of the American Convention separately; instead, it will include
its decision on the Article 19 violation in the chapters pertaining to the other rights
whose violation has been alleged.
*
*
*
151. This Court has held that all persons detained have the right to live in prison
conditions that are in keeping with their dignity as human beings and that the State
must guarantee their right to life and their right to humane treatment.153
152. The State has a special role to play as guarantor of the rights of those
deprived of their freedom, as the prison authorities exercise heavy control or
command over the persons in their custody.154 So there is a special relationship and
151
Cf. Juridical Condition and Human Rights of the Child, supra note 150, para. 54; and Case of the
Gómez Paquiyauri Brothers, supra note 26, para. 164.
152
Cf. Case of the Gómez Paquiyauri Brothers, supra note 26, para. 166; Case of the “Street
Children” (Villagrán Morales et al.). Judgment of November 19, 1999. Series C No. 63, para. 194; and
Juridical Condition and Human Rights of the Child, supra note 150, para. 24.
153
Cf. Case of Bulacio, supra note 56, paragraphs 126 and 138; Case of Hilaire. Judgment of June
21, 2002. Series C No. 94, para. 165; and Case of Cantoral-Benavides. Judgment of August 18, 2000.
Series C No. 69, para. 87.
154
Cf. Case of the Gómez Paquiyauri Brothers, supra note 26, para. 98; Case of Juan Humberto
Sánchez. Judgment of June 7, 2003. Series C No. 99, para. 111; and Case of Bulacio, supra note 56, para.
138. See also, Matter of Urso Branco Prison, supra note 54, sixth paragraph under ‘Considering”; and
Matter of the Gómez Paquiyauri Brothers. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of
Human Rights of May 7, 2004, thirteenth paragraph under ‘Considering’.
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