19.
In the opinion of this Court, the alleged acts of violence evince the
persistence of a situation of extreme gravity and urgency, and despite improvements
in the status quo at the UNIS and Brazil’s efforts to implement various measures to
overcome the present risk to the beneficiaries, the recent complaints of torture and
other harms attributed to State agents or other inmates represent a condition of
imminent risk to the lives and humane treatment of the juvenile inmates and other
beneficiaries in the Socio-Educational Inpatient Unit. The Court thus stresses that
the State must provide the beneficiaries with the protection owed so as to safeguard
their right to humane treatment, pursuant to the provisions of the present
provisional measures, and taking into account the special treatment afforded them
as children.
20.
The Court recalls that the actions of State security agents, especially those
who are tasked with disciplinary matters and inmates transfers, must always be
carried out with the utmost respect for the inmates’ human rights and with due care
in avoiding unnecessary acts of force.8 In particular, this Court notes that the
children beneficiaries of these provisional measures are presently deprived of their
liberty, and these measures were adopted based on specific reports of the conditions
in the Socio-Educational Inpatient Unit, notwithstanding whether some of those
beneficiaries have since moved to another unit.
Regarding those transferred
inmates, the State is held to its general obligations set forth in Article 1(1) of the
American Convention to respect and guarantee their rights to life and humane
treatment9 (infra Considering clause 23).
21.
The Tribunal also declares that all disciplinary measures constituting a cruel,
inhuman, or degrading treatment, including corporal punishment, solitary
confinement, or any other punishment capable of adversely affecting the juvenile’s
physical or mental health, are strictly prohibited.10
22.
The Inter-American Court finds a continuing need to protect the beneficiaries
of the present provisional measures, in light of the provisions of the American
Convention, in order to avoid acts of violence in the Socio-Educational Inpatient Unit,
as well as preventing harm to the physical, mental, or moral integrity of the juvenile
inmates and all other persons found therein.
23.
Additionally, the Tribunal reiterates that Article 1(1) of the Convention
provides the general obligations of States Parties to respect the rights and liberties
enshrined therein and to guarantee their free and full exercise to all persons subject
to their jurisdiction. These rights govern not only in relation to State power but also
in regards to the acts of third parties. This Court has found that the State occupies a
8
Cf. Case of the Children Deprived of Liberty in the “Complexo do Tatuapé” of FEBEM. Provisional
Measures regarding Brazil. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of November 30, 2005,
Considering clause fourteen; Matter of the Persons Imprisoned in the "Dr. Sebastião Martins Silveira"
Penitentiary in Araraquara, São Paulo. Provisional Measures regarding Brazil. Order of the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights of September 30, 2006, Considering clause sixteen; and Matter of Various
Venezuelan Prisons, supra note 3, Considering clause fifteen.
9
Matter of Various Venezuelan Prisons, supra note 3, Considering clause twelve.
10
Cf. United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty. Adopted by
General Assembly Resolution 45/113 of 14 December 1990, Rule 67; Case of the Children Deprived of
their Liberty in the “Complexo do Tatuapé” of FEBEM, supra note 8, Considering clause thirteen.
9