ORDER OF THE
INTER-AMERICAN OF HUMAN RIGHTS
OF AUGUST 29, 1998
PROVISIONAL MEASURES ADOPTED BY THE
INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
IN THE MATTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF
TRINIDAD Y TOBAGO
JAMES ET AL. CASE
HAVING SEEN:
1.
In reference to the matters of Wenceslaus James, Anthony Briggs, Anderson
Noel, Anthony Garcia and Christopher Bethel:
a.
The communication of May 22, 1998, and its annexes, in which the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter "the Commission") submitted to the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights (hereinafter "the Court"), pursuant to Article 63(2) of the American
Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter "the American Convention" or "the Convention") and
Article 25 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court (hereinafter "the Rules of Procedure"), a request
for provisional measures on behalf of Wenceslaus James, Anthony Briggs, Anderson Noel,
Anthony Garcia and Christopher Bethel, in connection with Cases 11.814, 11.815, 11.854,
11.855 and 11.857, respectively, currently pending before the Commission against the State of
Trinidad and Tobago (hereinafter "the State" or "Trinidad and Tobago"). In this communication
the Commission petitioned the Court
to request the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to stay the executions of the
individuals on "death row" in the five cases at issue until such time as the
Commission has had the opportunity to examine and decide these cases
pursuant to the Convention and the Commission’s Regulations.
and set out the facts, which are summarized below:
i)
the alleged victims have been sentenced to death by the State;
ii)
the Cases, 11.814, 11.815, 11.854, 11.855, and 11.857, were presented to
the Commission on behalf of the alleged victims between October 7 and December 17,
1997; in all of them the petitioners requested the adoption of precautionary measures
in order to stay the imminent executions of the alleged victims until after the
Commission had duly considered and decided their cases;
iii)
in each of the five cases, the petitioners allege to the Commission that the
State has violated specific rights of the American Convention to the detriment of the
alleged victims;
iv)
in each of the five cases, the Commission adopted and notified the State of the
precautionary measures requested by the petitioners. However, the State did not
respond to the requests for precautionary measures; and
v)
the Commission has stated that it has at its disposal information to support the
presumption that the executions of the five alleged victims are planned for June, 1998.
b.
The Order of the President of the Court (hereinafter "the President") of May 27, 1998, in
which he decided: