171. The Court notes that the 1973 Criminal Code of El Salvador established an attenuated
scale of punishment for the offense of infanticide. 283 Under the previous Salvadoran law, the
conduct was penalized with a maximum of up to four years, but now the maximum can be
fifty years; previously the minimum was one year, and now this has been increased to thirty
years. This new criminal dosimetry is evidently disproportionate. The Court considers that a
proportionate punishment for this type of offense would have to be the same or less than the
one established in the previous Salvadoran law, by the specific legal channel determined by
the State.
172. Consequently, the Court finds that the State violated the rights of Manuela recognized
in Article 5(2) and 5(6) of the American Convention, in relation to Articles 1(1) and 2 of this
instrument.
B.4 Conclusion
173. Based on all the above considerations, the Court concludes that the investigation and
trial to which the presumed victim was subjected did not comply with the right to defense,
the right to be tried by an impartial court, the presumption of innocence, the duty to provide
the reasons for a decision, the obligation not to apply laws in a discriminatory manner, the
right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and the obligation to
ensure that the purpose of punishments consisting in deprivation of liberty is the reform and
social readaptation of prisoners. Consequently, the State violated Articles 8(1), 8(2), 8(2)(d),
8(2)(e), 24, 5(2) and 5(6) of the Convention, in relation to Articles 1(1) and 2 of this
instrument, to the detriment of Manuela.
VIII-3
RIGHTS TO LIFE,284 PERSONAL INTEGRITY, HEALTH,285 PRIVACY286 AND EQUALITY
BEFORE THE LAW287 IN RELATION TO THE OBLIGATIONS TO RESPECT THESE
RIGHTS WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION288 AND TO ADOPT DOMESTIC LEGAL
PROVISIONS289
A.
Arguments of the parties and the Commission
174. The Commission presented arguments concerning: (i) medical professional secrecy
and its implications for the right to privacy and to sexual and reproductive health, and (ii) the
health care provided to Manuela and her death while in custody. Regarding the first point, the
Commission alleged that “the violation of professional secrecy constituted an arbitrary
restriction of Manuela's right to privacy” and “meant that Manuela did not receive treatment
under equal and acceptable conditions.” The Commission stressed that: (i) the doctor who
treated Manuela filed a criminal complaint against her and provided details of her medical
The Court notes that comparative law does not have a standardized definition of infanticide. In the 1973
Criminal Code of El Salvador, infanticide is defined as an attenuated homicide committed by the mother against her
child “during its birth or within the following seventy-two hours.” The Court underscores that the concept of infanticide
referred to in this judgment should never be understood as including the murder of children or adolescents in
circumstances other than those described in this case.
283
284
Article 4 of the Convention.
285
Article 26 of the Convention.
286
Article 11 of the Convention.
287
Article 24 of the Convention.
288
Article 1(1) of the Convention.
289
Article 2 of the Convention.
50