4 I INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE AND PURPOSE OF THE CONTROVERSY 1. On October 8, 2009, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter, the “Commission” or the “Inter-American Commission”) submitted, pursuant to Articles 51 and 61 of the Convention, an application against the Republic of Panama (hereinafter, the “State” or “Panama”) in relation to case 12.581, Jesús Tranquilino Vélez Loor, originating from the petition received by the Commission on February 10, 2004, and registered under N° P-92/04. On March 17, 2005, Mr. José Villagrán appeared as plaintiff. On October 21, 2006, the Commission declared the petition to be admissible by adopting the Report on Admissibility N° 95/06. On May 25, 2007, Mr. Vélez Loor transferred his legal representation to the Center for Justice and International Law (hereinafter “CEJIL”). On March 27, 2009, the Commission adopted the Report on the Merits,2 under the terms of Article 50 of the Convention. On April 8, 2009, the State was notified of said report, and it was granted a term of two months to report on the measures adopted to comply with the recommendations made by the Commission.3 After considering that Panama had not adopted its recommendations, the Commission decided to submit the present case to the Court's jurisdiction. The Commission appointed Mr. Paolo Carozza, then member of the Commission and its Executive Secretary, Santiago A. Cantón, as delegates, and Deputy Executive Secretary Elizabeth Abi-Mershed, Mrs. Silvia Serrano Guzmán, Mrs. Isabel Madariaga, and Mr. Mark Fleming as legal advisors. 2. The application relates to the alleged arrest in the Republic of Panama of Mr. Jesus Tranquilino Vélez Loor – an Ecuadorian national – and subsequent prosecution for crimes relating to his immigration status, in the absence of due guarantees and without affording him the possibility of being heard or of exercising his right of defense; the alleged failure to investigate the report on torture Mr. Vélez Loor filed before Panamanian authorities, as well as the alleged inhumane detention conditions he had suffered at various Panamanian prisons in which he was held between his arrest on November 11, 2002, and his deportation to the Republic of Ecuador on September 10, 2003. 3. The Commission requested the Court to declare the State responsible for the violation of Articles 5 (right to humane treatment [personal integrity]), 7 (right to personal liberty), 8 (right to a fair trial [judicial guarantees]), and 25 (right to judicial protection), in connection with the obligations established in Articles 1(1) and 2 of the American Convention, as well as Articles 1, 6, and 8 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture (hereinafter, “Convention against Torture”), to the detriment of Jesús Tranquilino Vélez Loor. Lastly, the Commission requested the 2 In that report, the Commission concluded that the Panamanian State is responsible for the violation of Articles 5 (right to humane treatment), 7 (right to personal liberty), 8 (right to a fair trial), 25 (right to judicial protection), in conjunction with the violations of articles 2 and 1(1) of the American Convention and that the State violated Articles 1, 6, and 8 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture for failure to appropriately investigate the alleged torture committed against Mr. Vélez Loor. The Commission, however, concluded that the petitioners have not provided sufficient evidence to declare the violation of Article 21 of the American Convention. Finally, the Commission sustained that "it does not address the petitioners’ new claim of violations of Article 9 of the American Convention because it was not presented at the admissibility stage and petitioners d[id] not provide a sufficient foundation to find a violation”. (case file of the evidence, tome I, appendix I of the application, folios 30 and 31) 3 In said report, the Commission recommended that the Panamanian State: Fully compensate the victim, Jesús Vélez Loor, in both moral and material terms for human rights violations as determined in the report on the merits report; implement measures to prevent inhumane treatment to occur at La Joya-Joyita and La Palma penitentiaries and to bring them into compliance with the Inter-American standards; report to the Commission on the application of Decree Law No. 3 of February 22, 2008, eliminating incarceration as a form of penalty for repeated illegal entry into Panama, and Article 66 of Decree No. 3; implement laws to ensure that immigration proceedings are conducted before a competent, independent and impartial juridical authority; and, implement the required measures to ensure that the accusations of torture of Mr. Jesús Tranquilino Vélez Loor within the State’s jurisdiction are properly investigated as required by Articles 1, 6, and 8 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture.