The facts of the case concern the grave conditions of detention to which children were subjected in the “Instituto de Reeducación del Menor “Panchito López”” [Institute of Reeducation of the Minor “Panchito López”] between the years 1996 and 2011. In particular, it concerns the damages caused by three fires which occurred in the years 2000 and 2001, in which 12 children died and dozens were left injured.

The IA Court analyzed the violations of the right to life and personal integrity in light of the additional and specific obligations which children’s rights, enshrined in article 19 of the American Convention, impose upon States. The IA Court focused on the content and scope of these rights, taking into consideration the pertinent dispositions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Additional Protocol on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which alongside the American Convention, constitute an international corpus juris of child protection which States must respect.

Similarly, the IA Court recognized that when addressing judicial proceedings in which children’s rights are discussed, and in particular when a child is subjected to a criminal proceeding, the exercise of judicial guarantees enshrined in article 8 of the American Convention involves the adoption of specific and particular measures.