17
Convention, in cases extremely serious and urgent that require protective measures
to avoid irreparable damage to persons.
8.
That the Commission requested this Court to order the protection of “the
persons deprived of liberty at the Monagas Judicial Confinement Center [, known as
`La Pica´;] and of those persons that may enter said confinement center as
detainees in the future.” Although in some cases the Court has considered it is
indispensable to identify the persons at risk of suffering irreparable harm, before
ordering the protective measures,2 in other cases the Court has issued protective
measures regarding a group of persons not previously identified, but who can be
identified and whose identification can be determined, and who are at risk of
suffering an imminent damage because they belong to a group or community,3 such
as the detainees at a confinement center.4 In the instant case, the possible
beneficiaries are identifiable as they are lodged in the above-referred confinement
center.
9.
That in the light of the State’s liability to adopt protective measures to
safeguard the persons under its jurisdiction, the Court deems that such obligation is
even more evident regarding persons lodged in a government confinement center, in
which case the State is the guarantor of the rights of the persons under its custody.5
10.
That by virtue of the relationship existing between detention conditions and
the guarantee of the right to life and personal integrity, the protection of detainees
at a confinement center where the conditions are those referred above is possible
through an order for provisional measures issued by this Court.
11.
That from the information provided by the Commission, the representatives
and the State, and their statements made during the public hearing (supra Having
2
Cf. Matter of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian-origin in the Dominican Republic. Provisional
Measures Regarding República Dominicana. Order of the President of the Inter-American Court of Human
Rights of September 14, 2000. Series E No. 3, Considering clause No. 4; and Matter of Haitians and
Dominicans of Haitian-origin in the Dominican Republic. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights of August 18, 2000. Series E No. 3, Considering clause No. 8.
3
Cf., inter alia, Matter of Pueblo indígena de Sarayaku. Provisional Measures. Order of the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights of July 6, 2004, Considering clause No. 9; Matter of Pueblo indígena de
Kankuamo. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of July 5, 2004,
Considering clause No. 9; Matter of the Communities of Jiguamiandó and Curbaradó. Provisional
Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of March 6, 2003, Considering clause No. 9;
and Matter of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó. Provisional Measures. Order of the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights of June 18, 2002, Considering clause No. 8. Besides, Cf. Case of the
Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tingni Community. Provisional Measures. Judgment of August 31, 2001. Series
C No. 79, para. 149.
4
Cf. Matter of Children Deprived of Liberty in the "Complexo do Tatuapé" of FEBEM. Provisional
Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of November 30, 2005, Considering clause
No. 6; Matter of the Mendoza Prisons. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human
Rights of November 22, 2004, Considering clause No. 5; and Matter of Urso Branco Prison. Provisional
Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of June 18, 2002, Considering Clause No.
6.
5
Cf. Matter of Children Deprived of Liberty in the "Complexo do Tatuapé" of FEBEM. Provisional
Measures, supra note 4, Considering clause No. 7; Matter of Urso Branco Prison. Provisional Measures.
Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of September 21, 2005, Considering clause No. 6; and
Matter of the Mendoza Prisons. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
of June 18, 2005, Considering clause No. 6.
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