47 2. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment or treatment. All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person. 247. Articles 11.1 and 11.2 of the American Convention indicate: 1. Everyone has the right to have his honor respected and his dignity recognized. 2. No one may be the object of arbitrary or abusive interference with his private life, his family, his home, or his correspondence, or of unlawful attacks on his honor or reputation. 248. Article 1.1 of the American Convention declares: 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. 249. The IACHR recalls that sexual assault committed by members of the security forces of a State against the civilian population constitutes in all cases a severe violation of the human rights 267 protected by articles 5 and 11 of the American Convention . On this point the Commission notes the complementarity of those articles in cases of sexual assault, as such assault constitutes not only an attack on the physical, mental and moral integrity of the victims but also an affront to their dignity and an invasion of one of the most intimate spheres of their lives – their physical and sexual space – and it denies their capacity to take independent decisions with respect to their bodies. 250. In particular, the Inter-American Court has held that the consequences of sexual violence 268 are physically, emotionally and psychologically devastating for women victims . The Court has also recognized that the rape of a detainee by an official of the State must be considered to be an especially grave and abhorrent form of ill-treatment given the ease with which the offender can exploit the 269 vulnerability and weakened resistance of his victim . It has also held that rape is an extremely traumatic 270 experience that can have severe consequences and cause great physical and psychological damage that leaves the victim “feeling debased and violated, physically and emotionally”, a condition that does not 271 respond to the passage of time as quickly as other forms of physical and mental violence. 251. The IACHR recalls that torture and the infliction of cruel, inhuman or degrading 272 punishment or treatment are strictly prohibited by international human rights law . It has been established at both the universal and the regional levels that once rape by State agents is proven, whether within or outside detention centers, this constitutes torture on the basis of two elements: the nature of the perpetrator and the purpose of the act. 267 IACHR, Report No. 53/01 (Merits), Case 11.565, Ana, Beatriz and Celia González Pérez, Mexico, 4 April 2001, Para. 45. At: http://www.IACHR.oas.org/annualrep/2000sp/CapituloIII/Merits/Mexico11.565.htm 268 I-A Court, Penal Miguel Castro Castro vs. Perú. Judgment of 25 November 2006. Series C No. 160, Para. 313, citing United Nations, Report submitted by Mrs. Radhika Coomarasway, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, including its causes and consequences, in accordance with Resolution 1997/44 of the Commission, E/CN.4/1998/54, January 26, 1998, paras 13 and 14. 269 I-A Court, Penal Miguel Castro Castro vs. Perú. Judgment of 25 November 2006. Series C No. 160, Para. 311 270 I-A Court. Penal Miguel Castro Castro vs. Perú. Judgment of 25 November 2006. Series C No. 160, Para. 311, citing United Nations Commission on Human Rights, “Question of Human Rights of All Persons Subjected to Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, in Particular Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment”, Report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Nigel S. Rodley, submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1995/37. Doc. E/CN.4/1995/34 del 12 January 1995, Para. 19. 271 I-A Court. Penal Miguel Castro Castro vs. Perú. Merits, Judgment of 25 November 2006. Series C No. 160, Para. 311, citing Eur.C.H.R., Aydin v. Turkey (GC), Judgment of 25 September 1997, App. No. 57/1996/676/866, para. 83 272 I-A Court. Penal Miguel Castro Castro vs. Perú. Judgment of 25 November 2006. Series C No. 160, Para. 271.