3
a) implement provisional measures to protect the lives and right to humane treatment
of the inmates and other persons present in the correctional facility; and
b) engage all necessary efforts to gain effective control of the prison, in strict
adherence to the inmates’ human rights, in order to eliminate the high indicia of
overcrowding that give rise to acts of violence, as well as to identify and effectively
respond to the causes that permit arms trafficking inside the prison itself.
5.
The Secretariat’s notes of October 20, 2010 whereby, pursuant to Article 27(5) of
the Rules of Procedure of the Tribunal, the State was asked to submit its relevant
observations on the request for provisional measures, as well as any other documentation it
deemed pertinent by October 27, 2010. At the present time, the Tribunal has received no
such information.
6.
The Order of the President of the Tribunal of November 1, 2010 (hereinafter “the
Order of the President”), in which he decided:
1.
To require that the State immediately and definitively adopt such measures as may be
necessary and effective to avoid loss of life and damage to the physical, mental, and moral
integrity of all the individuals incarcerated in the Araguan Correctional Facility, also known as
Tocorón prison, as well as any other persons who may be found therein.
2.
To request that the State submit a first report by November 12, 2010 on the measures it
has adopted in compliance with this Order and to request that the representatives of the
beneficiaries and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights present their observations on
the State’s report within five and seven days, respectively, from the date of service of the same.
7.
The State’s brief of November 2, 2010 in which it noted that:
a) although the Araguan Correctional Facility is “an establishment for serving time,” it is
“the facility with the [second] largest number of pre-trial detainees” with 640
convicted prisoners and 2,525 detainees. As of October 26, 2010, the facility had a
population of 3,210 inmates of which 215 are women and 2,995 men. It also
maintains a personnel of 152 workers assigned to different areas, among which are
overall health, crime control, system, logistics, administrative support, custodians,
etc. The State has taken specific steps in order to reduce overcrowding in this
facility; however, “the total population has not substantially lessened”;
b) during 2008, 28 violent deaths occurred; in 2009, the number of inmates who
perished due to acts of violence was 22; and during the first half of 2010, 26 inmates
lost their lives due to violence and four due to sickness unrelated to the violence.
Furthermore, eight of the persons mentioned in the information submitted by the
Commission “are not part of the data” in the State’s possession;
c) the situations arising in the Araguan Correctional Facility, in terms of persons
wounded and killed, are in large part a matter of “isolated events that are not the
result of riots or disputes, but rather particular situations among inmates” with the
exception of the events of September 27, 2010 in which a conflict between two
groups of inmates resulted in a confrontation between them. Regarding that
occurrence, in addition to deterioration of the facilities, from September 27-29 of this
year 16 inmates died and 37 were wounded;
d) the aforementioned situation “deserve[d] a well-planned, peaceful capture on the
part of the authorities.” Over the course of 72 hours and with the support of the