gaining access to basic services – health care and education. Accordingly, it considered that
the international protection provided by the Court’s provisional measures is fundamental “to
help reduce the risk to the beneficiaries and to guarantee their life and personal integrity.”
45. The Court considers that an adequate assessment of the request to extend the
provisional measures involves an analysis of the situation described by the Commission,
since the mechanism of provisional measures requires that the requisites established in
Article 63.2 of the Convention be proved in relation to the individuals in whose favor the
measures are requested. The Court recalls that the burden of proof and argument of the
beneficiaries and the Commission will increase with the passage of time to determine
whether it is appropriate to modify the provisional measures, since the Court cannot lose
sight of the fact that protection measures should be of an essentially provisional and
temporary nature.
46.
The Commission referred, in general terms, to the alleged mass deportations and
expulsions that continue in the Dominican Republic, which places the potential beneficiaries
in a situation of risk. In this regard, the Court, in accordance with its case law, reiterates
that the information provided cannot conclude that the alleged context or the existence of
“risk factors” constitutes per se grounds for granting the provisional measures.
Furthermore, the Court recalls that in any situation in which the intervention of the Court is
requested, so that provisional measures may be granted, there must be a concurrence of
three conditions, namely extreme gravity, urgency and the need to prevent irreparable
harm to persons. This Court notes that the information presented does not reveal specific
acts that have occurred against the proposed beneficiaries that could constitute effects of
the alleged context. Moreover, the Inter-American Commission used as grounds for its
request the general statements made by the representatives regarding the situation of
members of the families, without indicating recent acts that had put their integrity or safety
at risk, or providing additional details of possible means, time and place that would allow
the Court to adequately appreciate the specific situation of extreme gravity and urgency,
and the danger of irreparable harm to each one in accordance with Article 63.2 of the
Convention.
47.
Based on the foregoing, the Court considers that there is not an observable
configuration of a situation of extreme gravity and urgency that could cause irreparable
harm to members of the Medina Ferreras, Gelin, Fils-Aimé, Sensión and Jean families in this
matter, and therefore it does not consider admissible the request to extend the provisional
measures in their favor at this time.
48.
Furthermore, bearing in mind the characteristics of the instant matter, the Court
records the fact that these provisional measures were granted on June 16, 2000 (supra
Having Seen paragraph 2), and that they have been in force for more than 11 years, and
that the Commission issued its Admissibility Report on October 13, 2005. The Court has
already indicated that provisional measures are exceptional in nature, are ordered due to
the need for protection and, once ordered, must be maintained as long as the basic
requirements of extreme gravity and urgency persist.12 Thus, provisional measures are
related to a specific temporary situation and, by their very nature, cannot be perpetuated
indefinitely.13
12
Cf. Matter Clemente Teherán et al. (Zenú Indigenous Community). Provisional Measures regarding
Colombia. Order of the Court of December 1, 2003, Considering paragraph 3, and Case of Cruz Flores v. Peru,
supra note 3 Considering paragraph 30.
13
Matter of the Communities of Jiguamiandó and Curbaradó, Provisional Measures regarding Colombia,
Order of the Inter-American Court of August 30, 2010, Considering paragraph 70, and Matter of the Peace
12