ORDER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS OF MARCH 30, 2006* REQUEST FOR PROVISIONAL MEASURES SUBMITTED BY THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS REGARDING THE BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA MATTER OF THE YARE I AND YARE II CAPITAL REGION PENITENTIARY CENTER HAVING SEEN: 1. The brief of March 28, 2006 and the appendixes thereto, whereby the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter, “the Inter-American Commission” or “the Commission”) submitted to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter, “the Court,” “the Inter-American Court” or “the Tribunal”) a request for provisional measures pursuant to Article 63(2) of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter, “the Convention” or “the American Convention”), Article 25 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court (hereinafter “the Rules of Procedure”) and Article 74 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission in order that, inter alia, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (hereinafter “the State” or “Venezuela”) would protect “the inmates of the Yare I and Yare II Capital Region Penitentiary Center [hereinafter, “the Yare Prison”] from impending violations of their rights to life and humane treatment.” The Commission noted that this matter “ha[d] been registered by the Executive Secretariat under No. 07/2006, and processed in accordance with the rules and internal procedures of the Commission.” 2. The alleged facts on which the request for provisional measures submitted by the Commission is based, namely: a) the Venezuelan penitentiary system is undergoing a serious situation. From January 1, 2005 through March 2006 more than 400 were killed and 700 injured in violent incidents that took place at Venezuelan correctional facilities; b) due to a series of riots, hunger strikes, fights, beatings and punishments from 2005 to date, the inmates of the Yare Prison, located in the Municipality of Simón Bolívar, State of Miranda, face risks that are materializing increasingly more often; * This Order was issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in its XXVII Special Session, held in the City of Brasilia, Brazil, from March 27 through 31, 2006.