7
in and for Escuintla delivered a judgment on June 21, 2006, in which the Court,
unanimously, sentenced Mr. Fermín Ramírez to 40 years imprisonment on the count
of aggravated rape, under the terms of Section 175 of the Criminal Code. The
defense filed an appeal against such judgment, which was solved on November 2,
2006 by the Forth Chamber of the Appellate Court on Criminal, Drug-trafficking and
Environmental Offenses that did not admit the appeal and therefore, did not modify
the appealed judgment. On January 22, 2007 the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme
Court of Justice declared inadmissible the appeal for review by a higher court filed by
the defense counsels of Mr. Fermín Ramírez. Finally, the State pointed out that, in
July 2007, there were no notices or recourses pending determination and the appeal
was final. That information was repeated during the hearing (supra Having Seen
clause 8).
7.
That the representatives mentioned that the State complied with part of that
obligation as to the fact of conducting a new proceeding with the corresponding
guarantees, but the State sentenced him to 40 years imprisonment without him
being accused of committing aggravated crimes that may increase the prison
sentence. Moreover, the Commission took note of the fact that the State did not
apply Section 132 of the Criminal Code regarding the dangerousness of the agent
and pointed out that the State has complied with the obligation to refrain from
executing Mr. Fermín Ramírez.
8.
That the parties agree on that these issues of the Judgment have been
effectively complied with by the State. As has been shown in the previous Order for
monitoring compliance in this case (supra Having Seen clause 2), this Court truly
values the progress made by the State in such sense, especially the terms of
Agreement Nº 96-2006 rendered by the Supreme Court of Justice of Guatemala,
which constitutes an important precedent within the environment of the InterAmerican system as to the enforcement of judgments of this Tribunal.
*
*
*
9.
That, as to the obligation to provide Mr. Fermín Ramírez, free of charge and
at national health-care facilities, with his prior consent, with any medical and
psychological treatment, including the provision of medicines (operative paragraph
eleven of the Judgment), the State informed that Mr. Fermín Ramírez has received
regular medical, psychological and dental care by a multidisciplinary team of the
health facility of the penitentiary center. He has been provided with medical
treatment due to the fact that he suffered minor health conditions. Besides, in July
2007 and April 2008, he went through medical examinations which revealed he has
been suffering from gastritis and possible ulcer for the last 6 years, and therefore, he
was being treated for such conditions. Furthermore, the State informed that, at the
moment, he is not receiving any psychological treatment since there is no adequate
space room.
10.
That the representatives mentioned that the medical treatment Mr. Fermín
Ramírez is receiving is not adequate; that the prescribed medicines are supplied in
an irregular and insufficient way; that he has to buy this own medicines and that he
has a severe pain in his teeth and has not received dental treatment for it. They
acknowledged that he has received psychological therapy by specialized staff, but
they pointed out that the person in charge of such therapy has been removed from
its position, that by January 2008, no other professional has been hired and that for
the last six months, Mr. Fermín Ramírez has not been treated by the psychiatrist.