REPORT No. 118/10 CASE 12.680 MERITS RAFAEL ARTURO PACHECO TERUEL ET AL. (DEATH FROM FIRE AT SAN PEDRO SULA PRISON) HONDURAS October 22, 2010 I. SUMMARY 1. On July 14, 2005, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter the “Inter-American Commission”, the “Commission” or the “IACHR”) received a petition lodged by the Pastoral Penitenciaria, CARITAS Sampedrana, and the Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación y Comunicación (ERIC) (hereinafter “the petitioners”) against the State of Honduras (hereinafter “Honduras”, “the State” or “the Honduran State”) for alleged violation of articles 4, 5, 8, and 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter the “Convention” or the “American Convention”), in conjunction with Article 1(1) thereof, for the alleged violations of the fundamental rights of 107 persons deprived of liberty who died at San Pedro Sula Prison (hereinafter “the alleged victims”) and their next of kin. 1 2. The petitioners allege that on May 17, 2004, a fire broke out in Cellblock 19 (hereinafter also referred to as ”House No. 19” ) of the San Pedro Sula Prison that claimed the lives of 107 inmates –named as victims in the present case- and severely injured another 26 inmates. The petitioners contend that the fire was a direct consequence of the State’s failure to take preventive measures and to take the steps necessary to protect the lives and personal integrity of the inmates once the fire broke out. They also contend that the State failed to comply with its duty to duly investigate the facts, punish those responsible and adequately redress the victims’ next of kin. They argue that the facts in this case were not an isolated event; instead, they fit into a broader picture that included a zero-tolerance policy in combating “gangs,” widespread problems in the Honduran prison system, and structural problems specific to the San Pedro Sula Prison. 3. On October 17th, 2008, the Commission approved Admissibility Report No. 78/08 rd during its 133 Regular Session. In that report, the Commission concluded that the case was admissible with respect to articles 4(right to life), 5 (right to humane treatment), 8 (right to a fair trial) and 25 (right to judicial protection) of the American Convention, and the obligation to respect the Convention-protected rights, set forth in Article 1(1) thereof, to the detriment of the alleged victims and their next of kin. Also, by application of the principle of jura novit curia, the Commission concluded that the petition was admissible for the alleged violation of Article 7 of the Convention. 4. The State, for its part, submitted no additional observations on the merits. However, in the period that preceded the processing of the case, it reported that the fire that broke out in House No. 19 on May 17, 2004, happened when the shoddy electrical system overheated because too many appliances had overloaded the circuitry. It maintained that the appropriate investigations were conducted; that the length of time taken to conduct the investigations was because of the 1 A five-page petition was received on June 14, 2004, filed by Dr. Eugenio Raúl Zaffaroni and another 24 persons, in which the events of the present case were denounced. After examining the content of this complaint, additional information was requested from the petitioners by a note dated November 16, 2005. However, no reply was received. Subsequently, by a note dated October 12 of that year, Dr. Zaffaroni was notified that his petition would be joined with P785-05, filed on July 4, 2005 by Caritas Sampedrana and ERIC.