16
13.
As part of its international obligation to ensure to all persons the full exercise
of their human rights, the State must devise and apply a prison policy that prevents
crisis situations such as those that necessitated these provisional measures.
14.
At the public hearing held on June 28, 2004, the Court was informed that the
Inter-American Commission, the petitioners and the State had met that same day
and had arrived at “a number of preliminary agreements, not yet formalized,” mainly
regarding the mechanism for coordinating and overseeing compliance with the
measures and that a second meeting was scheduled to be held in Brasilia on July 14,
2004, concerning implementation of the measures.
15.
It is essential that the State continue to include, in all its reports, an updated
list of all inmates at Urso Branco Prison, those who have been released and those
who are incoming, and indicate the number and name of the inmates who are
serving sentences and those being held but not yet convicted; it is also to continue
to report whether the convicted inmates are physically segregated from unconvicted
inmates and kept in separate sections. The State has not included the list in all its
reports and, although its May 4, 2004 report did include a list indicating the total of
inmates and specifying which had been convicted and which had not, the State
never reported whether the convicted inmates and the unconvicted inmates are
being held in separate sections.
16.
Failure to comply with the State’s duty to inform the Court of all the
provisional measures adopted in compliance with the Court’s Orders is especially
serious, given that these are Court-ordered measures whose purpose is to prevent
irreparable harm to persons who are in a situation of extreme gravity and urgency.12
NOW, THEREFORE,
THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS,
in exercise of its authorities under Article 63(2) of the American Convention on
Human Rights and Article 25 of its Rules of Procedure,
DECIDES:
1.
To call upon the State to:
a)
immediately adopt all measures necessary to effectively protect the
lives and personal safety of all inmates at Urso Branco Prison,13 and all
resolutions 663C (XXIV) of July 31, 1957 and 2076 (LXII) of May 13, 1977, rule number 27de 13 de mayo
de 1977, rule number 27; and Matter of Urso Branco Prison, Provisional Measures. Order of the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights of April 22, 2004, ‘Considering’ ten.
12
Cf. Matter of Urso Branco Prison, Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of
Human Rights of April 22, 2004, ‘Considering’ fourteen; Matter of Marta Colomina and Liliana Velásquez,
Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of September 8, 2003,
‘Considering’ eleven.
13
Cf. operative paragraph one of the Court’s Order of April 22, 2004; operative paragraph one of
the Court’s Order of August 29, 2002; and operative paragraph one of the Court’s Order of June 18, 2002.