9 26. The application states that the H. Inter-American Court has established that the right to life is a basic human right, crucial for exercise of the other human rights, and that it encompasses not only the right of every human being not to be arbitrarily deprived of his or her life, but also the right of access to conditions that ensure a decent existence. Regarding this right, the Court has in fact stated: “Owing to the fundamental nature of the right to life, restrictive approaches to it are inadmissible. In essence, the fundamental right to life includes, not only the right of every human being not to be deprived of his life arbitrarily, but also the right that he will not be prevented from having access to the conditions that guarantee a dignified existence. States have the obligation to guarantee the creation of the conditions required in order that violations of this basic right do not occur and, in particular, the duty to prevent its agents from violating it.” 18 27. Interpretation of the right to life in a way that encompasses positive measures of protection for the indigenous peoples to enjoy the right to a decent life is based on international jurisprudence and doctrine, and it entails new steps forward in International Human Rights Law. The Inter-American Court has pointed out that the duty of the State to take positive steps must be a high priority precisely in connection with protection of the life of the more vulnerable persons, such as members of indigenous communities. This concept of the right to life, with regard to indigenous communities in a destitute situation, which can be reflected in death rates that could be avoided, asserts the obligation to provide social protection and to put an end to extreme poverty. Since they suffer severe deprivation, these indigenous communities lack strategies to adequately address the risks they face, to take advantage of opportunities to improve their living conditions and to attain minimum conditions regarding their quality of life. 19 In my opinion, the international responsibility of the Paraguayan State in the case of the deaths of members of the Yakye Axa community that could have been avoided, and which as I will show must be shared with others involved, stems from extreme poverty, worsened by precarious settlement of the community along the route, a fact that is not attributable to the State. 28. The right to life is embodied in various instruments, and pursuant to them, existence of extreme poverty, which tends to grow in the country, entails denial of economic, social, and cultural rights, including the rights to adequate nutrition, to health, to food, and to work. 20 The United Nations Human Rights Commission recognized that extreme poverty is contrary to the basic right to life, and it established the human rights that are essential to protect the right to life (food, drinking water, health). 21 The World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna in 1993, in turn, deemed that extreme poverty is contrary to human dignity. In the case of the indigenous communities, especially those suffering harsh poverty, the I-A Court of HR. Villagrán Morales et al. Case (“Street Children” Case), Judgment of November 19, 1999, para. 144. 18 Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Joint concurring opinion of judges Antonio Augusto Cançado Trindade and Alirio Abreu Burelli, Villagrán Morales et al. Case (“Street Children” Case), para. 4. 19 20 Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights regarding Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. “San Salvador Protocol”. The United Nations Human Rights Commission asserted that situations of extreme poverty affect all human rights, civil, cultural, economic, and political, as well as the right to development, for which the human person is crucial. E/CN.4/1995/101 para. 83. 21 E/CN.4/ Sub 2/200425.