43
nature of a suspension of guarantees (supra para. 103.a and 104.a). Consequently, the Court
must analyze this matter.
B.1.1. Domestic legal framework at the time of the facts
112. The Peruvian Constitution enacted in 1979 and in force at the time of the facts of this
case, established in Article 2, paragraphs 7, 9, 10, 20.g and 20.i, that everyone had the right:
7. To the inviolability of the home. No one may enter the home or conduct investigations or searches without
the authorization of the person who lives there or by court order, except in a case of flagrante delicto or
imminent danger of its perpetration. The exceptions based on health or serious risks are regulated by law.
[…]
9. To choose freely the place of residence, to move about national territory and to leave it and enter it, with the
exception of restrictions for health reasons.
Not to be repatriated or deported from the place of residence unless this is by court order or by application of the
law concerning aliens.
10. To associate peacefully without weapons. Meetings in private places or those that are open to the public do
not require prior notice. Meetings that are called in public places and streets require prior notice to the authority,
which may prohibit them only on proven grounds of public safety and health.
[…]
20. To personal liberty and security.
[…]
g) No one may be arrested unless it is by a written and reasoned order of a judge or by the police authorities in
flagrante delicto. In any case, the person detained must be brought before the respective court within 24 hours
or in relation to the distance.
An exception to this is made in cases of terrorism, espionage, and illegal drug trafficking in which the police
authorities may execute the preventive detention of those presumably involved for no more than 15 calendar
days, and must advise the Public Prosecution Service and the judge, who may assume jurisdiction before the
expiry of this time limit.
h) Everyone shall be informed immediately and in writing of the grounds or reasons for their arrest. They have
the right to communicate with, and be assisted by, legal counsel of their own choosing as soon as they are
summoned or detained by the authorities.
i) No one may be kept incommunicado unless this is essential in order to clarify an offense, and in the manner
and for the time established by law. The authorities are obliged to indicate promptly the place where the person
detained is being kept, and will be held responsible if they do not do so.180
113.
In addition, Article 231 (a) of that Constitution established that:
The President of the Republic, with the agreement of the Council of Ministers, decrees the states of emergency
that are established in this article, for a specific time, in all or part of the territory, and after advising Congress
or the Permanent Commission:
a. State of emergency, in case of disturbance of the peace or internal order, of catastrophe or grave
circumstances that affect the life of the Nation. In this eventuality, the President may suspend the
constitutional guarantees relating to freedom of association and the inviolability of the home, freedom of
association and of movement in the territory, that are established in paragraphs 7, 9 and 10 of article 2 and in
paragraph 20(g) of the same article 2. Under no circumstances may the penalty of banishment be imposed.
The term of the state of emergency may not exceed sixty days. The extension requires a new decree. During
states of emergency the Armed Forces assume the control of internal order when decided by the President of
the Republic.
114. It should be noted at the time of the detention of Gladys Espinoza a decree published on
March 23, 1993, was in force 181 in the Department of Lima and the Constitutional Province of
Callao, which extended the state of emergency and suspended the constitutional guarantees
established in paragraphs 7, 9, 10 and 20(g) of article 2, rights to the inviolability of the home,
to movement, to association, to be arrested only by court order or in flagrante delicto, and to be
brought before a judge within the maximum established time frame, as follows:
180
Constitution of Peru of
simplificacion/const/1979.htm
July
12,
1979,
Available
at:
http://www.congreso.gob.pe/comisiones/1999/
181
Cf. Supreme Decree No. 019-93-DE/CCPPAA, published on March 23, 1993, extending the state of emergency
in the Department of Lima and the Constitutional Province of Callao (evidence file, folio 5995).
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