23
ways: as a consequence of the disproportionate means used to re-establish
the order at the prison; due to summary executions by members of the Navy
of the Peru, after surrendering, and through the demolition of the prison´s
Blue Pavilion.
63.
The State stated that:
a)
the Commission, in all alleged arguments, only offers insufficient
statements and seeks to transfer to the State the burden of proof to impair
allegations lacking evidence content;
b)
the riots subduing was performed by the Navy of Peru, and it was
implemented in different stages, bearing in mind that
once the peaceful preservation methods were exhausted, it was needed to
gradually reduce the distribution space of the prison, to the extent of keeping
inmates in a tractable and reduced space, [...] The purpose was to have them
(all of them) repressed but mainly alive and scared.
There was never disproportion of means employed, but an execution of a
preconceived scheme to subdue the riots demanding weapons and members
of the Navy. Operations were implemented within the legal and conventional
framework that empowers every State to defend the principle of authority and
security of its citizens;
c)
the existence of 28 safe and sound inmates after the riots’ crushing
operations and the fact that on the following days five inmates showed up
from the debris, who were helped and later on imprisoned at the penitentiary
center "Castro Castro," ratifies the argument that under all circumstances the
life and physical integrity of inmates who surrendered during and after the
subduing were respected.; and
d)
the accusation stating that riot subduing entailed an evident
disproportion between the danger it supposed and the actions taken to
subdue it, proves to be false due to the following reasons: the struggle
against subversion, during those years was waged at different levels, being a
clash between elements enforcing authorities and terrorists the most
ostensible; citizens were experiencing stressing times, terrorist leaders
showed an "unbelievable cruelty and ferocity” which demanded the
organization of the nation and of its defense mechanisms to face said
situation; "intervened" or imprisoned terrorists in the penitentiary
transformed it into a "nobody zone", where the authority principle was totally
disregarded. Due to this context, when extreme cases such as the abovementioned take place, when civil forces overflow, then it is necessary to call
for the support of the armed forces.
*
64.
*
*
Article 4 of the Convention states, that