38 130. In cases in which there has been negligent or deficient medical treatment of persons deprived of liberty, the European Court of Human Rights has held states in violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, 323 which prohibits, inter alia, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.324 The European Court has taken into account factors such as lack of emergency and appropriate specialized medical assistance, excessive deterioration of the physical and mental health of the person deprived of liberty, and exposure to severe or prolonged pain as a result of a lack of prompt and diligent medical attention, the excessive security conditions to which the person has been submitted in spite of their evident grave state of health without the existence of grounds or evidence to make them necessary, among others, in order to assess if the person deprived of liberty has being subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment.325 131. For its part, the scope of the right to life where persons deprived of liberty are concerned also includes the obligation for the State to ensure the right to health by adopting adequate measures to safeguard the lives of the persons in its custody, specifically under the obligation to provide medical treatment, which must be appropriate, 326 timely,327 specialized, and suited to the special care that the persons deprived of liberty in question might require.328 132. In the case of Vera Vera, the IACHR established that right to life of the victim had been violated since he had sustained a gunshot wound in the course of his arrest and died 10 days later while in Judgment of July 8, 2004, par. 113. For its part, the Commission has recognized the obligation to provide prompt medical treatment to persons who are deprived of their liberty and in certain cases has even considered that a state’s omission to provide such special care constitutes cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. IACHR, Lallion v. Grenada Case No. 11.675 October 21, 2002, par. 87; Jacob v. Grenada Case No. 12.158 October 21, 2002, par. 94; McKenzie, Downer and Tracey, Baker, Fletcher, Rose v. Jamaica Cases Nos. 12.023, 1112.044, 12.107, 12.126, 12.146 of April 13, 2000, par. 289; Victor Rosario Congo v. Ecuador. Case No. 11.427 April 13, 1999, par. 68 and Rudolph Baptiste v. Grenada Case No. 11.743 April 13, 2000, par. 137138; Report on the Human Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas, December 31, 2011, pars 519 et seq. 323 Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. 324 In examining violations of this type, the European Court has held that “ill-treatment must attain a minimum level of severity if it is to fall within the scope of Article 3. The assessment of this minimum level is, in the nature of things, relative; it depends on all the circumstances of the case, such as the duration of the treatment, its physical and mental effects and, in some cases, the sex, age and state of health of the victim. ... Although the purpose of such treatment is a factor to be taken into account, in particular whether it was intended to humiliate or debase the victim, the absence of any such purpose does not inevitably lead to a finding that there has been no violation of Article 3. ECHR, Case of Sarban v. Moldova, (No. 3456/05), Judgment of 4 October 2005. Final, 4 January 2006, pars. 75 and 76. 325 ECHR, Case of Paladi v. Moldova, (No. 39806/05), G.C., Judgment of 10 March 2009. 326 See European Court of Human Rights, Edwards and Others v. United Kingdom (2002) 35 EHRR 417 para 54; Osman v. United Kingdom (1999) 29 EHRR 45. See also, United Nations Human Rights Committee: Pinto v. Trinidad and Tobago (Communication No. 232/1987) Report of the Human Rights Committee vol 2 UN Doc A/45/40 p. 69 para 12.7; Kelly v. Jamaica (2 April 1991) UN Doc CCPR/C/41/D/253/1987 para 5.7. 327 See: Art. 25.1 of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, adopted by the First United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held at Geneva in 1955, and approved by the Economic and Social Council by its resolutions 663C (XXIV) of 31 July 1957 and 2076 (LXII) of 13 May 1977; and Principle 24 of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under any Form of Detention or Imprisonment. Adopted by United Nations General Assembly resolution 43/173, 9 December 1988. 328 For example, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has established the obligations of detention center authorities with regard to the requirement to provide specialized medical care, in cases such as Pinto v. Trinidad and Tobago (note 126), para 12.7; Lewis v. Jamaica (18 July 1996) UN Doc CCPR/C/57/D/527/1993, para 10.4; Whyte v. Jamaica (27 July 1998), UN Doc CCPR/C/63/D/732/1997, para 9.4; Free Legal Assistance Group and others (note 112), para 47; EN and others v. The Government of the RSA and others (note 124), paras 31, 35; Leslie v. Jamaica (31 July 1998), UN Doc CCPR/C/63/D/564/1993, para 3.2.