82
272. In the instant case, the Tribunal determined that Mr. Vélez Loor was
imprisoned at La Palma Public Prison and, later on, at La Joyita Penitentiary Center,
which are prison centers that depend on the national prison system where he was
confined together with people accused and/or convicted of the commission of criminal
offenses, due to his irregular migratory status (supra para. 210). In order not to place
persons detained for suspected immigration violations in penitentiary centers or other
places where they may be held in custody together with people who have been
accused or convicted of crimes, the Court orders the State to adopt, within a
reasonable time, the measures necessary to provide facilities with sufficient capacity
to accommodate persons whose detention is necessary and proportionate, in the
specific case, for immigration purposes, which must offer material conditions and a
proper regime for migrants. The personnel working at such facilities must be duly
qualified and trained civilians. These facilities must have visible information written in
several languages regarding the legal situation of the detainees, forms with names
and telephones of consulates, legal advisors, and organizations to which the people
may resort for support, if they deem pertinent.
b)
To adapt the prison conditions of La Palma Public Prison and La
Joya-La Joyita Penitentiary Center to international standards
273. The Commission requested the Court to order the State to ensure that the
State’s detention centers meet minimum standards that are compatible with humane
treatment and ensure those deprived of liberty with a decent existence.
274. The representatives, in addition, repeated that most of the “inhumane
conditions“ in which Mr. Vélez Loor lived are still existent in the present. Therefore,
they requested the Court to order the Panamanian State “to create a plan in the
short, medium, and long-term to ensure that the Prison System have the necessary
resources to operate adequately within a reasonable term,” as well as “to create an
inter-institutional mechanism in order to improve the prison conditions in the country
and therefore, the quality of life of inmates.” In particular, they requested the Court
to order the State to guarantee that the people in charge of the custody of the people
deprived of liberty shall be civilians with the adequate training and not members of
the National Police; to adopt effective measures to improve the prison conditions of
those inmates held in Panamanian prisons and to guarantee that the Panamanian
Prison System have sufficient physicians, which must be independent in order to
properly carry out their roles and to draw up protocols for the examination of people
deprived of liberty.
275. The State informed, in detail, on the measures adopted to improve the living
conditions of the people deprived of liberty, which are being actually implemented. It
mentioned that, since the month of July 2009, it has adopted more measures tending
to reduce the overcrowding existent in the penitentiary centers of the country.
Moreover, it indicated that with “the direct coordination of the Minister of the Interior,
the National Prison System Office is implementing, apart from measures of immediate
impact on the improvement of the situation of people deprived of liberty, complete
programs to solve, in the medium term, the deficiencies, shortages and
irregularities.” In addition, it informed on specific measures adopted as to health.
Among such measures, it emphasized the implementation of medical visits to the
centers of the interior of the country, as well as the provision of supplies to the clinics
of the penitentiary centers. Furthermore, the State informed that it had worked out
an arrangement with the Ministry of Health in order to increase the medical service at
the clinic at La Joya prison.
276. The Court takes note of the poor conditions of imprisonment, recognized by
the State (supra paras. 60 and 197), at La Palma Public Prison and La Joya-La Joyita
Penitentiary Center, which are incompatible with the American Convention. Given that
this case refers to migrants and that it has been established that they cannot be held
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