to the detriment of several individual members of this community who “did not have records of their birth and death, or any other document provided by the State that could prove their existence and identity.” The Court stated: 188. The right to recognition of juridical personality before the law represents a parameter to determine whether a person is entitled to any given rights and whether such a person can enforce such rights. The breach of such recognition implies the absolute denial of the possibility of being a holder of such rights and of assuming obligations, and renders the individual vulnerable to the non-observance of the same by the State or by individuals. 189. The State has a duty to provide the general legal conditions and resources, so that the right to recognition of juridical personality may be exercised by its holders. In particular, the State is bound to ensure to those persons in situations of vulnerability, exclusion and discrimination, the legal and administrative conditions that may secure for them the exercise of such right, pursuant to the principle of equality under the law. 190. In the instant case, the Court has considered proved that 18 of the 19 members of the Sawhoyamaxa Community who died as a result of the State’s failure to comply with its preventive duty regarding their right to life (supra para. 178), did not have any birth or death records, or any other document provided by the State able to prove their existence and identity. (…) 194. Based on the above considerations, and notwithstanding the fact that other members of the Community may be in the same situation, the Court finds that the State violated the right to recognition of juridical personality recognized in Article 3 of the American Convention, to the detriment of NN Galarza, Rosana López, Eduardo Cáceres, Eulalio Cáceres, Esteban González Aponte, NN González Aponte, NN Yegros, Jenny Toledo, Guido Ruiz-Díaz, NN González, Luis Torres-Chávez, Diego Andrés Ayala, Francisca Britez, Silvia Adela Chávez, Derlis Armando Torres, Juan Ramón González, Arnaldo Galarza and Fátima Galarza. 366 7. Article 3 has also been interpreted and applied correctly – that is, as a fundamental right of all human beings – in numerous cases. For example, in the Case of the Yean and Bosico Girls v. Dominican Republic the Court decided as follows: 178. A stateless person, ex definitione, does not have recognized juridical personality, because he has not established a juridical and political connection with any State; thus nationality is a prerequisite for recognition of juridical personality. 179. The Court considers that the failure to recognize juridical personality harms human dignity, because it denies absolutely an individual’s condition of being a subject of rights and renders him vulnerable to non-observance of his rights by the State or other individuals. 180. In this specific case, the State maintained the Yean and Bosico children in a legal limbo in which, even though the children existed and were inserted into a 366 Case of the Sawhoyamaxa Indigenous Community v. Paraguay. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of March 29, 2006. Series C No. 146, paras. 188 to 190 and 194. 2