6 place within the detention center or is limited to external custody or daily head counts; f) The State did not refer to the alleged trafficking of weapons inside the prison; and the information provided by the State shows that high rates of overcrowding persist and that medical care remains inadequate; g) On April 11, 2011, approximately 96 inmates at the Vista Hermosa Prison began a “blood strike,” consisting in self-flagellation with sharp cutting instruments that caused wounds to their legs and arms, as a form of protest for the failure of the prison authorities to comply with a series of measures to improve their detention conditions. This protest lasted until April 14, leaving more than 100 inmates with “deep” wounds on their arms and legs. The injured received medical attention in two hospitals or were attended to by medical personnel sent in to respond to the situation. A working group was formed to reach an “agreement” with the inmates; h) On April 16, 2011, officials from the Bolivarian National Guard intervened in the prison and, as a result, different types of weapons were seized; i) The Commission does not have precise information on the current status of the protests or on the health of the inmates who were injured in the strike, and j) The foregoing elements are sufficient to conclude that a situation of extreme gravity and urgency exists, together with the need to avoid irreparable harm to persons. 9. The brief of April 26, 2011, with which the State submitted audio recordings with regard to the bill on the prison system. 10. The Secretariat’s note of April 27, 2011, whereby, on the instructions of the President of the Court, it granted the Inter-American Commission until May 5, 2011, to present additional observations on the information submitted by the State on April 13 and 16, 2011 (supra having seen paragraphs 7 and 9). 11. The Commission’s brief of May 5, 2011, in which it indicated that the information presented by the State concerning the bill on the prison system (supra having seen paragraph 9) “does not provide any relevant information on the situation in the Vista Hermosa Prison.” CONSIDERING THAT: 1. Venezuela has been a State Party to the American Convention since August 9, 1977, and, in accordance with Article 62 of the Convention, accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court on June 24, 1981. 2. Article 63(2) of the American Convention provides that, “[i]n cases of extreme gravity and urgency, and when necessary to avoid irreparable damage to persons, the Court shall adopt such provisional measures as it deems pertinent in matters it has under consideration. With respect to a case not yet submitted to the Court, it may act at the request of the Commission.”