CONCURRING OPINION OF JUDGE A.A. CANÇADO TRINDADE
1.
In voting in favor of the adoption of this new Order of the Inter-American Court
of Human Rights granting Provisional Measures of Protection regarding Colombia in the
Matter of the Communities of Jiguamiandó and Curbaradó, I feel obliged to include in
this Concurring Opinion, albeit briefly, my personal reflections on the facts of the cas
d'espèce and of other recent cases that have led this Court to order Provisional
Measures of Protection. Currently, over 11,500 people (including members of entire
communities), residing in Latin American countries and the Caribbean, are under the
protection of provisional measures ordered by this Court.1 The implementation of these
measures has extended and they have assumed considerable importance in the last
decade, thus becoming a true preventive judicial guarantee.2 And the Inter-American
Court, more than any other contemporary international court, has significantly
contributed to their development in both International Human Rights Law and
contemporary Public International Law.
2.
Therefore, it is a matter of great concern to me to see that a remarkable legal
remedy, which has saved many lives and prevented other irreparable damage to
persons -holders of the rights protected by the American Convention on Human Rights, begins to prove insufficient in certain extreme circumstances. I am deeply concerned
that, in the last five years, as a direct result of the increasingly violent and
dehumanized world in which we live, some individuals that were under the protection
of provisional measures ordered by this Court have, however, been arbitrarily deprived
of their lives.
3.
This has taken place - paradoxically, pari passu with the extraordinary
expansion of Provisional Measures of Protection under the American Convention - not
only in this Matter of the Communities of Jiguamiandó and Curbaradó regarding
Colombia (2003-2006), but also in the Matter of Eloisa Barrios et al regarding
Venezuela (2005), in the Matter of Urso Branco Prison regarding Brazil (2004-2006), in
the Matter of the Mendoza Prisons regarding Argentina (2005-2006), in the Matter of
the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó regarding Colombia (2002-2006), in the
Matter of Children Deprived of Liberty in the "Complexo do Tatuapé" of FEBEM
regarding Brazil (2005-2006), and in the Matter of James et al regarding Trinidad y
.
In the Matter of Pueblo Indígena de Kankuamo regarding Colombia only, there are approximately
6,000 beneficiaries of the measures; in the Matter of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó
regarding Colombia, the beneficiaries are over 1,200; in the Matter of the Communities of Jiguamiandó and
Curbaradó regarding Colombia, the beneficiaries are over 2,000; in the Matter of Urso Branco Prison
regarding Brazil, almost 900 inmates benefit from the measures; in the Matter of Pueblo Indígena de
Sarayaku regarding Ecuador, there are approximately 1,200 beneficiaries; among several others.
1
.
A.A. Cançado Trindade, "Les Mesures provisoires de protection dans la jurisprudence de la Cour
Interaméricaine des Droits de l'Homme", in Mesures conservatoires et droits fondamentaux (publ. G. Cohen
Jonathan and J.-F. Flauss), Bruxelles, Bruylant/Nemesis, 2005, pp. 145-163; A.A. Cançado Trindade, "Les
Mesures provisoires de protection dans la jurisprudence de la Cour Interaméricaine des Droits de l'Homme",
4 Revista do Instituto Brasileiro de Direitos Humanos (2003) pp. 13-25; A.A. Cançado Trindade, "The
Evolution of Provisional Measures of Protection under the Case-Law of the Inter-American Court of Human
Rights (1987-2002)", 24 Human Rights Law Journal - Strasbourg/Kehl (2003), no. 5-8, pp. 162-168.
2