119. With regard to the injuries suffered by Mr. Ruiz Fuentes at the time of his arrest on August 6, 1997, the State argued that they occurred when the victim tried to evade justice and escape, jumping down into a ditch. The State added that it had never been proved that his injuries had been produced by actions of the State’s law enforcement agents. The State stressed that Mr. Ruiz Fuentes opposed his capture, trying to escape, and as a result of this he suffered various injuries. It also indicated that the case file did not contain any application for habeas corpus that would prove the supposed violations caused by the State’s law enforcement agents. B. Considerations of the Court 120. The Court recalls that Article 5(1) of the Convention establishes in general terms the right to both physical and also mental and moral integrity. Meanwhile, Article 5(2) establishes, more specifically, the absolute prohibition of subjecting anyone to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment. Moreover, it has been acknowledged that, nowadays, the absolute prohibition of torture, either physical or psychological, belongs to the realm of international jus cogens.147 121. The Court has also indicated that the violation of the right to physical and mental integrity has diverse connotations of degree that range from torture to other types of ill-treatment or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, the physical and mental aftereffects of which vary in intensity based on endogenous and exogenous factors relating to the person (such as, duration of the treatment, age, sex, health, context and vulnerability), which must be examined in each concrete situation.148 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 whether their personal integrity was violated, because these characteristics may change an individual’s perception of the reality and, consequently, increase the suffering and the feeling of humiliation when subjected to certain types of treatment.149 122. The Court will now examine: (i) the alleged international responsibility of the Guatemalan State for the alleged torture to which Mr. Ruiz Fuentes was subjected following his arrest on August 6, 1997, and then (ii) the subjection of Mr. Ruiz Fuentes to the death row phenomenon and its compatibility with inter-American standards. b.1 The arrest of Mr. Ruiz Fuentes 123. The Court recalls that Mr. Ruiz Fuentes was arrested together with four other individuals on August 6, 1997.150 Regarding this arrest, the Court notes, first, the statement made by Mr. Ruiz Fuentes himself before the Eighth Trial Judge for Drug-trafficking and Environmental Crimes on April 29, 1998, where he indicated: “Some unknown individuals got out of a vehicle and made me and the mechanic get out of our car […]; they put me in a beige van and I did not see where they put the mechanic; […] then they blindfolded me and shackled me with plastic handcuffs, they drove me all over the place, they beat my intestines, my ribs, and asked me about several kidnappings; as I did not tell them anything, they hit me; then, in the afternoon, I don’t remember but it was after about three hours, they took me to an unknown house where they threw me out of the van with my trousers and pants around my ankles; there was a tall man there, I believe he is Mr. Conte Cojulun [Director of the PNC] and Cf. Case of Maritza Urrutia v. Guatemala. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of November 27, 2003. Series C No. 103, para. 92, and Case of Women Victims of Sexual Torture in Atenco v. Mexico. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of November 28, 2018. Series C No. 371, paras. 177 and 178. 148 Cf. Case of Loayza Tamayo v. Peru. Merits, supra, para. 57, and Case of Women Victims of Sexual Torture in Atenco v. Mexico, supra, para. 177. 149 Cf. Case of Ximenes Lopes v. Brazil. Judgment of July 4, 2006. Series C No. 149, para. 127, and Case of Omeara Carrascal et al. v. Colombia, supra, para. 193. 150 Cf. Communication No. 4325-97 issued by the Criminal Investigations Department of the National Police, dated August 6, 1997 (evidence file, folio 5). 147 30

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