A.2. Information and observations regarding the measures of security and protection
adopted in favor of the beneficiary
15.
According to information provided to the Court, the protection scheme assigned by
the State to the beneficiary Islena Rey Rodríguez consists of a vehicle and two or three
escort units, 9 support for the payment of per diem allowances, road tolls and fuel, as well as
a mobile phone. In addition, “police inspections” are carried out at the beneficiary’s home
and workplace. In this regard, the representatives and the State reported problems with the
vehicle and the aforementioned support which, on one occasion even prompted the
beneficiary to take the decision to “give up the security arrangements in the absence of an
agreement on decisions related to her protection”, and on another occasion because of a
reduction in the amounts provided for fuel. In that context, several contacts and discussion
meetings took place between the parties where they first reached temporary solutions, and
subsequently, agreements that overcame the problems. This included the assignation of a
new vehicle, an increase in the amount of fuel authorized given that it was an armored
vehicle and a procedure for applying for vouchers for fuel and road tolls, and for requesting
an increase in the amount provided for fuel.
16.
The representatives also reported on a problem concerning the beneficiary’s ability to
move in the event of an emergency, and referred to the procedures required by the State to
authorize such movements and the corresponding per diem allowances given that,
according to the latter, there were constraints of an administrative nature. According to
information provided by the representatives and the State, during the follow-up discussion
meeting held on April 8, 2011, the State clarified the issue of the administrative procedure
for authorizing movements within the protection scheme, and offered a solution which,
according to the State, “does not [imply] avoiding the procedures, but […] speeds [these]
up so that it is possible to guarantee the mobility of the scheme without problems of an
administrative nature arising afterwards.”
17.
In its brief of observations of February 14, 2012, the Inter-American Commission
“appreciate [d] the State’s willingness [to] resolve the problems that have arisen in relation
to different aspects of the protection scheme [but] note [d] that beyond specific solutions to
each of those difficulties, their continuation in different areas could indicate structural
failings in the implementation and coordination of the measures.” The Commission
considered it necessary “that the State, based on the problems that have arisen, make the
necessary efforts to ensure close and continuous monitoring of the provisional measures, in
order to avoid problems of an everyday nature which, in the long run, may end up having a
negative impact on the effectiveness of the protection itself.” The Commission expressed
concern regarding problems related to “the amounts to facilitate [the beneficiary’s]
movements, as well as the conditions and formalities that would continue to be required of
her and her escorts in the context of those movements.” It emphasized that “it is essential
that, in the context of the dialogue on the implementation of the provisional measures, the
State take into consideration the particularities of the beneficiary’s work and the need to
adopt the solutions necessary to comply with the provisional measures, bearing in mind
those particularities.”
9
In the brief of February 24, 2012, the representatives stated that “the protection scheme of Islena Rey
Rodríguez consists of two trusted escorts and not three escorts.” In a communication of July 16, 2012, the State
reported that “currently, Mrs. Islena Rey has two (2) escort units linked through the private security operator,
which is in the process of contracting the third escort unit.”
6