73.
During the first four and a half years of his imprisonment, Mr. Rodríguez Revolorio remained
in the Zone 18 Preventive Prison. On May 29, 1999, he was transferred to the maximum-security
prison, Annex to Granja Penal Canada, also known as "El Infiernito",84 where he remained until April
14, 2016, the day he was released.85
74.
The Court highlights, first of all, the expert report of June 23, 2005, by Ms. Castro-Conde on
the prison conditions of Mr. Rodríguez Revolorio and Mr. López Calo and the damage to their mental
and physical health that these conditions allegedly caused them. The expert carried out five visits to
"El Infiernito" between December 20, 2004 and May 18, 2005. In her expert report, Ms. CastroConde noted that the windows were located at the top of the walls, not allowing a view outside,
preventing the entry of enough light and fresh air, which meant that "the air inside [was] very dense,
there was no air flow and the heat was unbearable".86 In relation to the cells, the expert report
indicates the following:
"The dormitories are two rooms, each with two rows of cement slabs, the space on the slab is
very small and is not suitable for inmates over 165 cm tall because when they lie down, half of
their ankles remain outside the slab. They have minimal space to place their belongings.
Regarding the lighting, it is not possible to read or write with natural light because of the
position of the windows".87
75.
The Court further observes that, with respect to access to water, the inmates had to get up
at 3 a.m. to queue up to collect water in two-liter containers, of which they used two for bathing in
the morning and one for bathing at night. There was also an almost total absence of medical supplies,
as well as a serious lack of trained staff.88
76.
Regarding the visiting regime, the Court notes that it was very restricted, since visits took
place without physical contact and the inmates were handcuffed by one wrist to a tube while the
family was on the other side, where they could only touch each other's fingers through the bars.
Open visits were only allowed during Holy Week, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day,
Christmas and New Year's Day, when the family could enter the center and spend time with the
inmates for several hours.89 According to what Mr. Rodríguez Revolorio stated at the hearing held
before this Court, once they were transferred to the "El Infiernito" prison, they spent about two and
a half months without visits.90 In this regard, Mr. Rodríguez Revolorio indicated the following:
"We had no visitors, the food was really bad, it was not good food, we suffered there because
we had no water, in short, we lived a terrible situation. When we had the opportunity to have
our visit, we had it without physical contact with bars and sieves where we could not even touch
the fingertips of our children who also suffered a lot seeing us in this situation"91 .
Cf. Testimony of Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Revolorio given at the public hearing before the Inter-American Court held
on March 8, 2019.
85
Cf. Communication from the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Judiciary of June 28, 2018 (evidence file,
folio 2392).
86
Cf. Expert report of Aída Castro-Conde Barrios on the state of mental health of Miguel Ángel López Calo and Miguel
Ángel Rodríguez Revolorio, of June 23, 2005 (evidence file, folio 265).
87
Cf. Expert report of Aída Castro-Conde Barrios on the state of mental health of Miguel Ángel López Calo and Miguel
Ángel Rodríguez Revolorio, of June 23, 2005 (evidence file, folio 265).
88
Cf. Expert report of Aída Castro-Conde Barrios on the state of mental health of Miguel Ángel López Calo and Miguel
Ángel Rodríguez Revolorio, of June 23, 2005 (evidence file, folio 267).
89
Cf. Expert report of Aída Castro-Conde Barrios on the mental health of Miguel Ángel López Calo and Miguel Ángel
Rodríguez Revolorio, of June 23, 2005 (evidence file, folio 268).
90
Cf. Testimony of Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Revolorio given at the public hearing before the Inter-American Court held
on March 8, 2019, in which he indicated that "it turns out that we were more or less for about two and a half months without
a visit, we had no visitors”.
91
Cf. Testimony of Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Revolorio given at the public hearing before the Inter-American Court held
84
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