12
State. However, the Commission “request[ed] the Court to order the State to
present precise information in that regard";
j)
“it is important to agree on mechanisms to facilitate the visits of the
representatives and civil society organizations to detention centers, so as to favor
the social control regarding the confinement conditions of the people imprisoned in
Venezuela", and
k)
“the three elements of the Convention that determine [the maintenance of]
the provisional measures are latent" and in the specific cases, the adoption of the
measures is particularly "useful [...] to overcome conditions or situations of violence
which, otherwise, could not be solved by the methods provided by the State and to
create security conditions for life".
14.
That the main purpose of the adoption of the provisional measures in these four
matters is the effective protection of the life and personal integrity of the beneficiaries
(supra Having Seen clauses 1 to 4). In this regard, it spring from the information furnished
by the parties that, after a year and a half and three years and a half since the adoption of
the provisional measures in the four penitentiary centers, there still exist violent acts ending
in hundreds of deads and injured people (supra Considering clauses 11.a and 12.a).
Moreover, the prison conditions imposed are contrary to the protection of integrity and
dignity of the beneficiaries of said measures.
15.
That the situation of extreme gravity and urgency has not been denied by the State.
Likewise, the State has not requested the rescission or modification of the provisional
measures ordered in the four matters of reference. On the contrary, the State presented
official figures and information that confirm the existence of high levels of violence, which
have caused several deaths and the infringement on the personal integrity of the inmates in
the penitentiary cases under question (supra Considering clause 11a).
16.
That the Commission and, particularly, the representatives have presented sufficient
evidence and arguments leading this Tribunal to reasonable believe that there is still a
situation of extreme gravity and urgency that justifies the maintenance of these provisional
measures, in order to avoid irreparable damage to the life and integrity of the beneficiaries.
17.
That, taking into account that the State undertook, at the public hearing, to
overcome the current prison situation within a reasonable term of "five years" and, in view
of the efforts made, so far, by Venezuela in this regard, this Tribunal considers it is
convenient to maintain the provisional measures in favor of the beneficiaries of the four
penitentiary centers in force, so as not to report, any longer, violent facts leading to deaths
or injuries of the people under arrest that, as such, are subject to the State’s control, who
also has to play a special role of guarantor in relation to them.
18.
That even though this Tribunal is aware of the fact that the problem of confinement
centers in general, and of Venezuela in particular, requires medium and long term actions in
order to adapt its conditions to international standards, the States are obliged to implement
prompt actions to guarantee the physical, psychological and moral integrity of inmates, as
well as their right to life and to enjoy the minimum conditions of a dignified life8.
8
Cf. Matter of Monagas Judicial Confinement Center (“La Pica”). Provisional Measures regarding Venezuela.
Order of the Inter-American Court of February 9, 2006, Considering clause nineteen.