28 87. The Court, thus, has endeavored to assess all of the aggravating circumstances which arose in the infliction of Mr. Caesar’s punishment and has taken into account the degree of intensity of physical and mental pain suffered by him, which was in turn exacerbated by the treatment he received before and after the flogging. In that regard, the Commission argued that there has been an additional violation of the Convention in relation to those aggravating circumstances. 88. In the preceding paragraphs, the Court declared that the corporal punishment by flogging, as it was examined in the instant case, must be considered as a form of torture and is, therefore, contrary per se to Article 5(1) and 5(2) of the Convention and to peremptory norms of international law (supra para. 73). Furthermore, the Court is cognizant of the severe aggravating circumstances discussed above, namely: the extreme humiliation caused by the flogging itself; the anguish, stress and fear experienced while awaiting the punishment in prison, a period that was marked by excessive delay; and Mr. Caesar’s observation of the suffering of other prisoners who had been flogged. The extreme gravity and the degree of intensity of physical and psychological suffering caused by these circumstances upon Mr. Caesar will be considered when assessing the pertinent reparations (infra para. 127). 89. In all the circumstances, therefore, the Court finds that the State violated Article 5(1) and 5(2), in connection with Article 1(1), of the Convention, to the detriment of Mr. Winston Caesar. * On whether the State has failed to comply with its general obligation under Article 2 of the Convention to give domestic legal effect to the rights protected under Article 5 of said Convention. 90. The Court now will assess whether the State has fulfilled its general obligations under Article 2 of the Convention in this regard. 91. In interpreting Article 2 of the Convention, the Court has held that:36 [i]f the States, pursuant to Article 2 of the American Convention, have a positive obligation to adopt the legislative measures necessary to guarantee the exercise of the rights recognized in the Convention, it follows, then, that they also must refrain both from promulgating laws that disregard or impede the free exercise of these rights, and from suppressing or modifying the existing laws protecting them. These acts would likewise constitute a violation of Article 2 of the Convention. 92. The violations of Article 5(1) and 5(2) of the Convention to the detriment of Mr. Caesar resulted not only from the actions and omissions of State agents, but above all from the very existence and the terms of Trinidad and Tobago’s Corporal Punishment Act (supra para. 73). passing of sentence. However, this does not alter the fact that there had been an interval of several weeks since the applicant's conviction by the juvenile court and a considerable delay in the police station where the punishment was carried out. Accordingly, in addition to the physical pain he experienced, Mr. Tyrer was subjected to the mental anguish of anticipating the violence he was to have inflicted on him”. 36 Cf. Hilaire, Constantine and Benjamin et al. Case, supra note 7, para. 113.