in the corridors. She is allowed neither a radio, newspapers nor magazines. She is allowed into the
sunlight for only 20 to 30 minutes a day.
In that brief the Commission requested that the Inter-American Court order the Government
of Peru (hereinafter “Peru”) to bring to an end the solitary confinement and incommunicado
detention imposed on María Elena Loayza-Tamayo.
4.
Official communication 194-USP-EPMSMCH-96 of July 25, 1996, attached by the
Commission to the aforementioned brief of September 12, in which Dr. Julia Ruiz Camacho,
Chief Medical Officer of Chorillos Women's Maximum Security Prison, after her examination
of Ms. María Elena Loayza-Tamayo, certified that the prisoner was suffering from physical
and psychological disorders, including depressive anxiety syndrome.
CONSIDERING:
1.
That Perú has been a State Party to the American Convention since July 28, 1978 and
that it accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court on January 21, 1981.
2.
That Article 63(2) of the Convention provides that the Court shall take the provisional
measures it deems pertinent in matters it has under consideration in cases “of extreme
gravity and urgency, and when necessary to avoid irreparable damage to persons.”
3.
That Peru has not complied with the third operative paragraph of the Court's Order of
July 2, 1996, in which it is called upon to report regularly to this Tribunal on any measures it
has taken to ensure the effective safeguard of María Elena Loayza-Tamayo's physical,
psychological and moral integrity.
4.
That the Commission's brief of September 12, 1996 was accompanied by copies of
communications and documents attesting both to the deterioration in Ms. María Elena
Loayza-Tamayo's state of health and to the living conditions of male and female inmates in
Lima's maximum security prisons.
5.
That, in default of the report which the Government should have provided in
accordance with the requirements of this Court, it is presumed that the conditions of
imprisonment imposed on Ms. María Elena Loayza-Tamayo seriously endanger her physical,
psychological and moral health, as the Commission claims.
6.
That Article 5 of the American Convention on Human Rights provides that:
1.
Every person has the right to have his physical, mental, and moral integrity respected.
2.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment or
treatment. All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with respect for the inherent dignity
of the human person.
NOW, THEREFORE:
THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS,