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October 31, 2005, at the request of defense counsel for Lucas Matías Mendoza, the Forensic Corps of the
National Court System sent a report on his health condition to National Court for Sentence Enforcement
No. 2. The report reads as follows:
The ocular apparatus in the left eye has a cataract; the pressure in that eye is noticeably elevated
(30 mmHg)
Ocular fundus: macular choreo retinitis, likely from toxoplasmosis
Left eye: appears to be a detached retina
Visual acuity: loss of bilateral sight.
115.
On November 14, 2005, the National Public Defender’s Office asked the Ministry of
Justice and Human Rights of the Nation to commute the sentence of Lucas Matías Mendoza, in
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consideration of his ophthalmological problem.
116.
On December 5, 2005 the Secretary for Human Rights appeared before the Sentence
Enforcement Judge charged with Lucas Matías Mendoza’s case, stating that he would be in favor of house
arrest for the young man, given his state of health and the “severity of the disability that he is now
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suffering.” By a decision dated April 19, 2006, Sentence Enforcement Judge No. 2 decided not to grant
the requested commutation of sentence and ordered that Lucas Matías Mendoza be transferred to Federal
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Penitentiary Complex No. 19, which is a medium-security facility.
G.
Injuries sustained by Lucas Matías Mendoza and Claudio David Núñez
117.
On December 9, 2007, Lucas Matías Mendoza and Claudio David Núñez sustained
injuries while being held in Federal Penitentiary Complex No. 1.
118.
The State supplied the Commission with the disciplinary report that the Service Inspector
prepared concerning Federal Penitentiary Complex No. 1, in which he states that on the night of December
9, 2007, a fight broke out between Lucas Matías Mendoza and Claudio David Núñez and two other
inmates. The State asserts that prison officers reportedly intervened, separated them and, for safety
reasons, temporarily housed them in Module II’s temporary holdings cells. Later, the doctor on duty
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reportedly checked them out and put them back into their respective individual cells.
119.
Among the documents provided by the State is a report prepared by the in-house
physician at Ezeiza Federal Penitentiary Complex No. 1, dated December 10, 2007. There he writes that
Claudio David Núñez had bruising on the right side of his lower back, on the right kneecap, and the front of
the left leg. It also states that Lucas Matías Mendoza had bruising in the lower back region, and a sutured
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scalp laceration.
120.
On December 12, 2007, another physician from the Medical Aid Service at Federal
Penitentiary Complex No. 1 examined Claudio David Núñez and Lucas Matías Mendoza. The former
presented with redness to the skin and scabbing in the naval area, two lesions with similar characteristics
on the right knee, abrasions on the right iliac crest, abrasions on the left thigh and forearm, and a
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The National Public Defender’s Office cited Article 99 of the Constitution as the grounds for its request: “The President
of the Nation shall have the following authorities: 5) To pardon or commute sentences for crimes under federal jurisdiction, following
a report from the corresponding court, except in the cases of impeachment by the Chamber of Deputies.” The petitioners’ brief,
received on November 29, 2005. Attachments.
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The State’s brief, Note OEA 31 dated January 2, 2008. Attachments.
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The petitioners’ brief, received on January 2, 2008. Attachment. Report prepared by the Service Inspector on December
9, 2007.
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The petitioners’ brief, received on January 2, 2008. Attachment. Medical report prepared on December 10, 2007, by Dr.
Esteban Blasi, Staff Physician with the Medical Aid Service at Ezeiza Federal Penitentiary Complex No. 1.