The States Parties to this Convention undertake to respect the rights and freedoms
recognized herein and to ensure to all persons subject to their jurisdiction the free and full
exercise of those rights and freedoms, without any discrimination for reasons of race, color,
sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic status,
birth, or any other social condition.
202. According to the Constitution in force at the time of the facts in Bolivia, the right to personal
liberty was enshrined in the following terms, at Article 9:
No one may be detained, arrested, or imprisoned except in those cases and in keeping with
the forms established by law; for the respective order to be carried out, it must emanate
from a competent authority and be made in writing.
203. As regards the guarantees that should be upheld in a detention, the Inter-American Court
has established:
Article 7 of the American Convention ... contains two types of regulations, highly
differentiated, one general and one specific. The general one is contained in the first
subparagraph: “[e]very person has the right to personal liberty and security.” While the
specific one is composed of a series of guarantees that protect the right not to be deprived of
liberty unlawfully (Art. 7(2)) or in an arbitrary manner (Art. 7(3)), to be informed of the
reasons for the detention and the charges brought against him (Art. 7(4)), to judicial control
of the deprivation of liberty (Art. 7(5)), and to contest the lawfulness of the arrest (Art. 7(6)).
Any violation of subparagraphs 2 to 7 of Article 7 of the Convention necessarily entails the
violation of Article 7(1) thereof.256
204. The Commission has indicated that Article 7 of the American Convention enshrines the
guarantees regarding the right to liberty that the states parties have undertaken to respect and ensure. Any
deprivation of liberty should be carried out in keeping with the pre-established laws, and “No one shall be
subject to arbitrary arrest or imprisonment.” In this regard, a person detained should be informed of the
reason for his or her detention and notified immediately of any charge against him or her, and be brought
immediately before a judge. In addition, every person detained must be tried within a reasonable period or be
released while the proceeding continues. In addition, any person deprived of liberty has the right to a judicial
remedy and to obtain, without delay, a determination of the legality of the detention.257 The Human Rights
Committee of the United Nations has indicated that “remand in custody pursuant to lawful arrest must not
only be lawful but reasonable in all the circumstances.”258
205. The Commission recalls that based on “the presumption of innocence, within the framework
of a criminal process, the defendant shall remain free, as a rule.”259
206. In the instant case, the Commission has considered it as established that Ms. Andrade
Salmón was deprived of liberty from August 3, 2000, by order of the Third Criminal Examining Judge in the
proceeding known as the “Gader case,” until February 10, 2001, the date on which she left prison after a
release order was issued on February 9, 2001, and that she remained in pre- trial detention during this time
256
I/A Court H.R., Case of Cabrera García and Montiel Flores v. Mexico. Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of
November 26, 2010. Series C No. 220. Para. 79. Citing Case of Chaparro Álvarez and Lapo Íñiguez v. Ecuador, Preliminary Objections, Merits,
Reparations and Costs. Judgment of November 21, 2007. Series C No. 170, para. 54; and Case of Barreto Leiva v. Venezuela. Merits, Reparations
and Costs. Judgment of November 17, 2009. Series C No. 206, para. 116.
257
IACHR. Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Ecuador. 1997. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.96. Doc. 10 rev. 1. April 24,
1997. Chapter VII.
258
Case of Van Alphen v. The Netherlands, communication No. 305/1998, of July 23, 1990.
259
IACHR, Report No. 86/09, Case 12,553 Jorge, José, and Dante Peirano Basso v. Eastern Republic of Uruguay, August 6, 2009, para. 69.