40
when depriving a person of his liberty shall make such deprivation unlawful and against the
American Convention.144
146.
With respect to Article 7(3) of the Convention, the Court has previously established
that no one shall be detained or encarcerated for reasons or by means – which though they
may be legal – could be construed as being incompatible with fundamental human rights,
thus being, inter alia, unreasonable, unforseeable, and unproportional.145
147.
To that end, this Court has established that, in the light of article 7(4) of the
American Convention, the information about the motives and reasons” for detention shall be
provided “once it occurs,” which “is a mechanism to avoid unlawful or arbitrary detentions
from the very moment that the person is deprived of his liberty and, in turn, iensures the
right to defense of the individual.”146 Moreover, this Court has pointed out that, “there is
noncompliance with article 7(4) of the Convention if only the legal basis is mentioned.”147
148.
In the preceding chapter, this Court concluded that the tribunal that tried Mr. Usón
Ramírez lacked jurisdiction and impartiality, essential prerequisites to due process. The
effects of this situation are projected to all of the proceeding, rendering it defective from the
beginning, and to the consequences derived from it. In that regard, any act of a tribunal
that manifestly lacks competence that results in a restriction or deprivation of personal
liberty, such as those that occurred in the present case to the detriment of Mr. Usón
Ramírez, lead to the consequent violation of Article 7(1) of the American Convention
149.
As a consequence, the Court considers that in the present case, and distinct from
its considerations in other cases that have come before it, an analysis regarding the
Convention’s parameters of legality, no arbitrariness, motivation, possibility to challenge the
decision, reasonable time, or those issues regarding respect to the presumption of
innocence in relation to preventive detention, is unnecessary.
150.
Therefore, the Court concludes that the State violated article 7(1) of the Convention
in relation to article 1(1) of the same, to the detriment of Mr. Usón Ramírez.
IX
NON-COMPLIANCE WITH ARTICLE 2148 (DUTY TO ADOPT PROVISIONS OF
DOMESTIC LAW) OF THE AMERICAN CONVENTION
144
Cf. Case of Chaparro Álvarez and Lapo Íñiguez, supra note 56, para. 57; Case of Bayarri, supra note 43,
para. 54, and Case of Yvon Neptune, supra note 46, para. 96.
145
Cf. Case of Gangaram Panday v. Suriname. Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of January 21,
1994. Series C No. 16, para. 47; Case of Yvon Neptune, supra note 46, para. 97, and Case of Chaparro Álvarez
and Lapo Íñiguez, supra note 56, para. 90.
146
Case of Juan Humberto Sánchez v. Honduras. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations, and Costs.
Judgment of June 7, 2003. Series C No. 99, para. 82; Case of Yvon Neptune, supra note 46, para. 105, and Case
of Chaparro Álvarez and Lapo Íñiguez, supra note 56, para 70.
147
Case of Yvon Neptune, supra note 46, para. 106 and Case of Chaparro Álvarez and Lapo Íñiguez, supra
note 56, para. 71.
148
Article 2 of the Convention states:
Where the exercise of any of the rights or freedoms referred to in Article 1 is not already ensured by
legislative or other provisions, the States Parties undertake to adopt, in accordance with their
constitutional processes and the provisions of this Convention, such legislative or other measures as may
be necessary to give effect to those rights or freedoms.
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