8
15.
That the adoption of provisional measures does not imply a possible decision on the
merits of the existing dispute between the petitioners and the State if the case, finally, were
submitted to the Court,7 not does it prejudge on the responsibility of the State for the facts
reported.
*
*
*
16.
That after the urgent measures had been adopted by the President, the InterAmerican Commission further informed that “new incidents have taken place that seem to
be related to the situation of risk in which the beneficiaries are.” It added that “last week a
person connected to the ACREDH organization was beaten by a group of armed persons,
apparently linked to the police. Likewise, it was mentioned that two of the beneficiaries had
had to move to the city of Port-au-Prince along with their next of kin, due to the continuing
threats being expressed in various ways, among which, through anonymous phone calls to
the organization.” The Commission concluded by pointing out that the information furnished
by the beneficiaries “shows that the risk situation would be extending to other persons
related to the ACREDH organization in an indirect manner. Taking into consideration the
continuing threats the representatives mention and under the prima facie standard, the
Commission consider[ed] that it was in order to request the Inter-American Court that, at
the moment it decides whether to ratify the urgent measures ordered by the President of
the Court, it expand the provisional measures to include as well the next of kin of the four
beneficiaries belonging to the ACREDH organization […].”
17.
That, as regards the request to expand the provisional measures submitted by the
Inter-American Commission in its brief dated September 18, 2009, regarding the next of kin
of the four members of the ACREDH organization hereinbefore mentioned, the Court decides
to provisionally include such persons as beneficiaries of the measures ordered by means of
the instant Order, in the terms stated hereunder.
18.
That the Court recalls that when ordering protection measures the Tribunal or its
President does not require, in principle, proof of the facts which would prima facie appear to
meet the standards in Article 63 of the Convention. On the contrary, maintaining the
protection measures requires that the Court assess whether the situation of extreme gravity
and urgency to avoid irreparable damage to persons that gave rise to such protection
measures still persists, on the basis of proven information.8
19.
That on the basis of the foregoing, the Court deems it fit to order that within the time
limit set in the sixth operative paragraph of the instant Order, the beneficiaries or their
representatives and the Inter-American Commission, forward detailed information and
elements backing the individual situation, the existence, the nature and the origin or the
source of the risk affecting the next of kin mentioned in the request by the Inter-American
Commission to expand the measures.
7
Cf. Matter of James et al. Provisional Measures regarding Trinidad and Tobago. Order by the President of
the Inter-American Court of Human Rights dated July 13, 1998 , Considering Clause Number Six; Matter of
Fernández Ortega et al., supra note 1, Considering Clause Number Nineteen; and Matter of Tyrone DaCosta
Cadogan. Provisional Measures regarding Barbados. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights dated
December 2, 2008, Considering Clause Number Eleven.
8
Cf. Matter of Pérez Tores et al. (“Cotton Field”). Provisional Measures regarding Mexico. Order of the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights dated July 6, 2009, Considering Clause Number Twenty.