41
creating a threatening situation or threatening an individual with torture may, at
least in some circumstances, constitute inhuman treatment26.
166. Furthermore, it is worth recalling, as this Court has already stated, that a
persons who is unlawfully detained (supra, para. 134) is in an exacerbated situation
of vulnerability creating a real risk that his other rights, such as the right to humane
treatment and to be treated with dignity, will be violated27.
167. Lastly, from the documents and testimonies that are included in the probative
material, it is clear, as we have already stated, that the facts in this case occurred in
a context of great violence against children and youths who lived on the streets
(supra, para. 79), violence that very often included different types of torture and illtreatment28.
168. Having proved the fact that the physical and mental integrity of the youths,
Contreras, Figueroa Túnchez, Caal Sandoval and Juárez Cifuentes was violated and
that they were victims of ill-treatment and torture, the Court proceeds to determine
the facts relating to the attribution of responsibility.
169. The Court believes that the ill treatment and torture was practiced by the
same persons that abducted and killed the youths. Since the Court has established
that those responsible for these acts were member of the National Police Force
(supra, paras. 128 and 142), it is pertinent to conclude that the perpetrators of the
ill-treatment and torture carried out in the time between the seizure and the
murders, were State agents, whether they were those investigated and charged in
the domestic proceedings or others.
170. In this respect, we should recall the presumption established by the European
Court when considering that the State is responsible for ill-treatment exhibited by a
person who has been in the custody of State agents, if the authorities are incapable
of demonstrating that those agents did not incur in such behavior29.
171. In its final written arguments, the Commission indicated that the
circumstances of the death of the victims together with the lack of action by the
State had caused the victims’ next of kin “anxiety and also considerable fear”. The
Court considers that the fact that this point has only been raised during the final
arguments, does not, per se, prevent examining it and deciding on it.
172. From the records of the proceedings and, in particular, from the statements of
witnesses who intervened in the domestic proceedings and before this Court, it may
be deduced that
26.
Cf. Eur. Court. H. R, Campbell and Cosans judgment of 25 February 1982, Series A, no. 48, p.
12, § 26.
27.
Cf. Loayza Tamayo case, supra note 15, para. 57.
28.
Reports by Casa Alianza and Amnesty International, annexed to the probative material in this
case, supra note 11, mention shot wounds, cigarette burns, kicks and other hard blows, glue spilled on
the head, bites from trained dogs, and various forms of humiliation by word and deed, as forms of torture
and ill-treatment against Guatemalan “street children”.
29.
Cfr. Eur. Court H. R., Aksoy v. Turkey, supra note 21, p. 2278, § 61;. Eur. Court HR, Ribitsch v.
Austria judgment of 4 December 1995, Series A, no. 336, p. 26 et seq., § 34 and Eur. Court H. R. case of
Tomasi v. France of 27 August 1992, Series A no. 241-A, pp. 40-41, §§ 108-111.