VIII-1 PROHIBITION OF SLAVERY, SERVITUDE, FORCED LABOR AND THE SLAVE TRADE AND TRAFFIC IN WOMEN,348 THE RIGHTS TO PERSONAL INTEGRITY, PERSONAL LIBERTY, RECOGNITION OF JURIDICAL PERSONALITY, FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND RESIDENCE,349 AND THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD350 208. In this chapter the Court will set out the arguments of the Commission, the representatives of the presumed victims, and the State on the alleged violations of the prohibition of slavery, servitude, trafficking and forced labor, and of the rights to personal integrity, personal liberty, juridical personality, honor and dignity, and freedom of movement and residence, established in Articles 6, 5, 7, 3, 11 and 22 of the American Convention. The Court will then analyze the merits of: (i) the scope of Article 6 of the American Convention pursuant to international human rights law and the definitions of slavery, forced labor, servitude and trafficking in persons; (ii) the application of the said article to the facts of this case, and (iii) the alleged responsibility of the State in relation to the foregoing. A. Arguments of the parties and of the Commission 209. The Commission indicated that international law prohibits slavery, servitude, forced labor and other practices similar to slavery. The prohibition of slavery and similar practices forms part of customary international law and jus cogens. Protection against slavery is an obligation erga omnes which States must comply with and that is derived from international human rights law. The absolute and irrevocable prohibition against subjecting someone to slavery, servitude or forced labor is also recognized in the American Convention and in other international instruments to which Brazil is a party. 210. The Commission included clarifications with regard to the above concepts. First, it asserted that slavery, according to the 1926 Convention to Suppress the Slave Trade and Slavery (hereinafter the “1926 Convention”) should be understood as an exercise of the powers attaching to the right of ownership of a person. Second, it indicated that the contemporary concept of slavery includes debt bondage as a practice similar to slavery and, therefore, prohibited by the American Convention. The elements of debt bondage are: (i) provision of services as guarantee for a debt that, nevertheless, are not allocated to its 348 Article 6 of the Convention establishes that: 1. No one shall be subject to slavery or to involuntary servitude, which are prohibited in all their forms, as are the slave trade and traffic in women. 2. No one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labor. This provision shall not be interpreted to mean that, in those countries in which the penalty established for certain crimes is deprivation of liberty at forced labor, the carrying out of such a sentence imposed by a competent court is prohibited. Forced labor shall not adversely affect the dignity or the physical or intellectual capacity of the prisoner. 3. For the purposes of this article, the following do not constitute forced or compulsory labor: a. work or service normally required of a person imprisoned in execution of a sentence or formal decision passed by the competent judicial authority. Such work or service shall be carried out under the supervision and control of public authorities, and any persons performing such work or service shall not be placed at the disposal of any private party, company, or juridical person; b. military service and, in countries in which conscientious objectors are recognized, national service that the law may provide for in lieu of military service; c. service exacted in time of danger or calamity that threatens the existence or the well-being of the community; or d. work or service that forms part of normal civic obligations. 349 The relevant part of Article 22 of the Convention stipulates that: 1. Every person lawfully in the territory of a State Party has the right to move about in it, and to reside in it subject to the provisions of the law. Article 19 of the Convention establishes that: Every minor child has the right to the measures of protection required by his condition as a minor on the part of his family, society, and the State. 350 55