48
193. The Court also recalls that the violation of the right to physical and psychological
integrity of persons is a type of violation that has different connotations of degree and that
ranges from torture to other types of abuse such as cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,
with varying degrees of physical and psychological effects caused by endogenous and
exogenous factors [..] which must be proven in each specific situation.187 In other words, the
personal characteristics of an alleged victim of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment must be taken into account when determining a violation humane treatment,
consequently increasing the suffering and sense of humiliation when they are subjected to
certain treatments.188 The Court has also indicated that any use of force that is not strictly
necessary due to the detainee's own behavior constitutes an attack on human dignity in
violation of Article 5 of the American Convention.189
194. In the context of a forced disappearance, the Court has established that the victims of
this practice have their personal integrity violated in all its dimensions, and that the submission
of detainees to repressive official forces, state agents or private individuals who act with their
acquiescence or tolerance, that practice torture and murder with impunity represents a
violation of the duty to prevent violations of the rights to humane treatment and to life, even
in the event that the acts of torture or deprivation of the person’s life cannot be proven in the
specific case.190. In addition, this Court has held that forced disappearance violates the right
to humane treatment because the mere fact of prolonged isolation and coercive solitary
confinement represents cruel and inhuman treatment.191
195. In this case, the State acknowledged its international responsibility for the violation of
Article 5(1) of the Convention as a constitutive part of the forced disappearance to the
detriment of Mr. Omeara Miraval but argued that such recognition does not include its
responsibility for the violation of Article 5(2) of the Convention for the alleged acts of torture
to which he was allegedly subjected while he was disappeared. The Commission argued that
the events that occurred during the time that Mr. Omeara Miraval was disappeared constituted
acts of torture attributable to the State. The Court will now analyze the arguments regarding
the responsibility of the State for the violation of Article 5(2) of the Convention, in relation to
Article 1(1) of the same instrument, for the alleged acts of torture to which Mr. Omeara Miraval
was allegedly subjected.
196. The Court notes that on September 23, 1994, the 19th Prosecutor's Office, together
with a medical examiner, carried out an exhumation at the location where the body of Mr.
Omeara Miraval was buried. The medical examiner reported that the body was found in “dorsal
decubitus position, with the hands tied behind (his back) with thin black nylon” and that “[a]n
external [e]xamination of the body revealed the high degree of decomposition and the lack of
papillary ridges on the fingers” (supra para. 91). Similarly, the DAS officials who accompanied
the exhumation of the alleged victim's body essentially concurred with the information from
the 19th Prosecutor's Office.
Cf. Case of Loayza Tamayo v. Peru. Merits, supra, para. 57, and Case of Coc Max et al. (Xamán Massacre)
v. Guatemala, supra, para. 108.
188
Cf. Case of Ximenes Lopes v. Brazil, supra, para. 127, and Case of López Soto et al. v. Venezuela, supra,
para. 185.
189
Cf. Case of Loayza Tamayo v. Peru supra, para. 57, and Case of Favela Nova Brasília v. Brazil. Preliminary
Exceptions, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of February 16, 2017. Series C No. 333, para. 251.
190
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras, supra, para. 175, and Case of Members of the Chichupac
Village and neighboring communities of the Municipality of Rabinal v. Guatemala. Preliminary Exceptions, Merits,
Reparations and Costs. Judgment of November 30, 2016. Series C No. 328. para. 158.
191
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Merits, supra, paras. 156 and 187, and Case of Terrones Silva
et al. v. Peru. Preliminary Exceptions, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of September 26, 2018. Series C No.
360. para. 172.
187