13.
In sum, during the validity of these provisional measures, according to the
information provided by the Commission, the representatives, and the State, detainees
at the El Rodeo I and El Rodeo II Capital Judicial Confinement Center continue to be
subjected to situations that put them at risk or have directly affected their lives and right
to humane treatment. Proof of this are the serious acts of violence that occurred as of
the riot of June 12, 2011, which had high human costs, thus making evident the
persistence of the situation of extreme gravity and urgency. Additionally, the Tribunal
has verified that the level of overpopulation had become worse and that the deficient
conditions of security and internal controls subsist, as well as the continuation of the
entrance and possession of weapons inside the penitentiary center.
14.
Under the circumstances of the present matter and while the State adjusts the
detention conditions that affect the inmates, the Tribunal must demand, for the purposes
of the present provisional measures, that the State specifically eradicate the risks of
violent death and of attacks against the right to humane treatment, for which the
measures to be adopted must include those aimed directly towards protecting the
beneficiaries’ rights to life and humane treatment, both in their relationships amongst
themselves as well as with State agents, and to eradicate said risks, especially with
regard to the deficient conditions of security and internal controls of the El Rodeo I and El
Rodeo II Capital Judicial Confinement Centers.
15.
In short, Venezuela is the guarantor of the lives and right to humane treatment of
detainees at El Rodeo I and El Rodeo II, as well as the other penitentiary centers
throughout the country. Therefore, it is compelled to adopt the measures necessary to
protect them and to abstain, under any circumstances, from acting in any way that
breaches the rights to life and humane treatment of said persons. The Court observes
that the actions of state security agents, especially those directed to maintaining
discipline or carrying out transfers, must be practiced with strict observance of the
human rights of detainees and making all efforts possible to avoid unnecessary acts of
force.8 Additionally, given the characteristics of the detention centers, the State must
protect the inmates from the violence that, in the absence of state control, may occur
among the detainees.9
16.
Finally, the Tribunal continues to await official and final information on the number
of people who died and were injured in the events occurring as of June 12, 2011 at the El
Rodeo I and El Rodeo II Capital Judicial Confinement Centers.
17.
Regarding the information submitted by Mr. Humberto Prado on the alleged
attacks received by different members of the media (supra Having Seen 7 and 13), the
State mentioned that the same would not have any legal grounds, since it was not known
if he had turned to Venezuelan authorities to present the respective claims. In this sense,
8
Cfr. Case of the Children Deprived of Freedom in the “Complexo do Tatuapé” of FEBEM. Provisional
Measures regarding Brazil. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of November 30, 2005,
Considering Clause number fourteen; Matter of the persons imprisoned in the "Dr. Sebastião Martins Silveira"
Penitentiary in Araraquara, São Paulo. Provisional Measures regarding Brazil. Order of the Inter-American Court
of Human Rights of September 30, 2006, Considering Clause number sixteen, and Matter of the Yare I and Yare
II Capital Region Penitentiary Center, supra note 7, Considering Clauses number fourteen and fifteen.
9
Cfr. Matter of the persons imprisoned in the "Dr. Sebastião Martins Silveira" Penitentiary in
Araraquara, São Paulo, supra note 8, Considering Clause number sixteen.
8