31 2. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment or treatment. All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person. 6. Punishments consisting of deprivation of liberty shall have as an essential aim the reform and social re-adaptation of the prisoners. 130. Article 7(3) of the Convention provides that: No one shall be subject to arbitrary arrest or imprisonment. 131. Under Article 1(1) of the American Convention, The States Parties to this Convention undertake to respect the rights and freedoms recognized herein and to ensure to all persons subject to their jurisdiction the free and full exercise of those rights and freedoms, without any discrimination for reasons of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic status, birth, or any other social condition. 132. Article 2 of the American Convention reads as follows: 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. 133. The Commission will examine the petitioners’ allegations regarding enforcement of the sentences of life imprisonment and confinement for life, in the following order: i) General questions regarding the rights recognized in articles 19 and 5(6) of the American Convention; ii) international standards on juvenile criminal justice and the sentence of imprisonment for life; iii) an analysis to determine whether the criminal justice system, as applied to actual cases, had established rules and regulations for cases where the defendants were children and adolescents that were different from the rules and regulations applied in cases involving adults; iv) an examination of the principles on deprivation of liberty as a measure of “last resort” and “for as short a time as possible” given the facts of the case; v) an analysis to determine whether the possibility of release on parole, as contemplated in Argentine law, meets the periodic review requirement; vi) an analysis to determine whether the sentences imposed upon the alleged victims constituted an arbitrary deprivation of liberty and cruel and inhumane trearment; vii) examination of whether the penalties imposed on the alleged victims constituted cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, and viii) conclusion. 1. General questions regarding the rights recognized in articles 19 and 5(6) of the American Convention 134. Under Article 19 of the American Convention, States have a duty to maintain an especially high standard when it comes to guaranteeing and protecting the human rights of the child. In a society that claims to practice social justice and human rights, one of the most fundamental values is 110 respect for the rights of the child. 135. According to the case law of the Court, Article 19 of the American Convention must be construed as an added right which the Convention establishes for those who, because of their physical 111 and emotional development, require special protection. Children, therefore, are the titulaires of the 110 111 IACHR, Report No. 33/04, Case 11.634, Merits, Jailton Neri Fonseca (Brazil), March 11, 2004, para. 80. I/A Court H.R., Case of the Ituango Massacres. Judgment of July 1, 2006. Series C No. 148, para. 106; Case of Baldeón García, Judgment of April 6, 2005. Series C No. 147, para. 244; Case of the Mapiripán Massacre, Judgment of September 15, 2005. Series C No. 134, para. 152; and, most especially, Case of the “Juvenile Reeducation Institute.” Judgment of September 2, 2004. Series C No. 112, para. 147, and Case of Servellón García et al. Judgment of September 21, 2006, para. 113.