ORDER OF
THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
OF NOVEMBER 4, 2008
URGENT MEASURES REQUESTED BY
THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
REGARDING THE STATE OF BARBADOS
CASE OF TYRONE DACOSTA CADOGAN
HAVING SEEN:
1.
The communication of October 31, 2008, in which the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights1 (hereinafter “the Inter-American Commission” or “the Commission”)
submitted to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American
Court”, “the Tribunal”, or “the Court”) a request for the adoption of provisional measures, in
accordance with Articles 63(2) of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter
“the Convention”) and 25 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure (hereinafter “the Rules of
Procedure”), with the objective that the State of Barbados (hereinafter “the State” or
“Barbados”) “take all necessary measures to preserve the life and physical integrity of
[Tyrone DaCosta Cadogan, a prisoner on death row whose circumstances are the subject of
an application filed on October 31, 2008 before the Court,] so as not to hinder the
processing of his case.”
2.
The alleged facts on which the request for provisional measures filed by the
Commission is based, namely:
a)
Mr. Tyrone Dacosta Cadogan was found guilty of murder and sentenced to
death by hanging by the Supreme Court of Barbados on May 18, 2005, pursuant to
section 2 of the Offenses Against Persons Act, which calls for the mandatory
application of the death penalty for murder. Mr. Cadogan has exhausted available
domestic remedies and is awaiting execution at Her Majesty’s Prison Dodds in
Barbados;
b)
on December 29, 2006, the Commission received a petition 2 requesting the
adoption of precautionary measures on behalf of Mr. Cadogan so that no steps be
taken to carry out his death sentence pending the determination of his petition by
the Commission;
c)
on January 23, 2007, the Commission adopted precautionary measures on
behalf of Mr. Cadogan. It considered that if Mr. Cadogan were to be executed before
it had the opportunity to examine his case, any eventual decision would be rendered
ineffectual in terms of potential remedies, and he would suffer irreparable harm.
The Commission designated Commissioner Paolo Sergio Pinheiro and Mr. Santiago A. Canton, Executive
Secretary of the Commission, as its delegates in this case, and Elizabeth Abi-Mershed, Deputy Executive Secretary
of the Commission, Mario López-Garelli, Ismene Zarifis, and Manuela Cuvi Rodríguez, as its legal advisors.
2
The petitioners were Messrs. Alair P. Shepherd Q.C. and M. Tariq Khan.
1