59
6.
Anyone who is deprived of his liberty shall be entitled to recourse to a competent court, in order
that the court may decide without delay on the lawfulness of his arrest or detention and order his release
if the arrest or detention is unlawful. In States Parties whose laws provide that anyone who believes
himself to be threatened with deprivation of his liberty is entitled to recourse to a competent court in
order that it may decide on the lawfulness of such threat, this remedy may not be restricted or abolished.
The interested party or another person in his behalf is entitled to seek these remedies.
[…]
174.
Article 1(1) of the American Convention provides that:
1.
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.
175. The Commission’s examination of the established facts in light of the right to personal
liberty will be in the following order: i) General considerations on the right to personal liberty; ii) the
practice of “provisional arrest” in the context of an extradition process, under the American Convention;
iii) and analysis of the facts in the present case..
1.1
General considerations on the right to personal liberty
176. The Inter-American Court has written that “Article 7 of the Convention contains two
distinct types of regulations: one general, the other specific. The general one is contained in the first
subparagraph: ‘[e]very person has the right to personal liberty and security’; while the specific one is
composed of a series of guarantees that protect the right not to be deprived of liberty unlawfully (Art.
7(2)) or in an arbitrary manner (Art. 7(3)), to be informed of the reasons for the detention and the
charges brought against him (Art. 7(4)), to judicial control of the deprivation of liberty and the
reasonable length of time of the remand in custody (Art. 7(5)), to contest the lawfulness of the arrest
(Art. 7(6)), and not to be detained for debt (Art. 7(7)).”167
177. It has also observed that any violation of subparagraphs 2 to 7 of Article 7 of the
Convention necessarily entails the violation of Article 7(1) thereof, because the failure to respect the
guarantees of the person deprived of liberty leads to the lack of protection of that person’s right to
liberty.168
178. As for the prohibition against arbitrary detention or arrest, the Inter-American Court has
held that no one shall be arbitrarily arrested or imprisoned for reasons and methods which –though
qualified as legal- may be deemed to be incompatible with respect for the fundamental rights of the
167
I/A Court H.R. Case of Chaparro Álvarez and Lapo Íñiguez. v. Ecuador. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations
and Costs. Judgment of 21 de noviembre de 2007. Series C No. 170. Paragraph 51.
168
I/A Court H.R. Case of Chaparro Álvarez and Lapo Íñiguez. v. Ecuador. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations
and Costs. Judgment of 21 de noviembre de 2007. Series C No. 170. Paragraph 54.