ORDER OF THE
INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
OF AUGUST 26, 2002
PROVISIONAL MEASURES REQUESTED BY
THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
REGARDING THE REPUBLIC OF GUATEMALA
HELEN MACK CHANG ET AL.
HAVING SEEN:
1.
The August 9, 2002 brief and its appendices, in which the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Commission” or “the
Commission”) filed before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter
“the Inter-American Court” or “the Court”), pursuant to Articles 63(2) of the
American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Convention” or “the
American Convention”) and 74 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission, a
request for provisional measures in favor of Mrs. Helen Mack Chang and the
members of the Myrna Mack Foundation (hereinafter “MMF” or “the Foundation”). In
said brief, the Commission requests that the Court order the Republic of Guatemala
(hereinafter “the Guatemalan State”, “the State” or “Guatemala”) to:
a.
Immediately adopt effective security measures to ensure the life and personal
safety of Helen Mack Chang and the members of the Myrna Mack Foundation.
b.
Coordinate protection measures [...] with agreement by the persons to be
protected, so as to ensure the effectiveness and relevance of said measures.
c.
To adopt, as an essential component of the duty of protection, effective
measures to investigate the facts that give rise to these measures, so as to identify and
punish those responsible for said acts, in conformity with due process.
d.
Report to the [...] Court within a brief term on concrete and effective measures
adopted to protect Helen Mack Chang and [the] members of the Myrna Mack Foundation
[...] and, subsequently, to report to the Honorable Court every two months on the
status of the provisional measures.
2.
The Commission based its request for provisional measures on the following
facts:
a)
that the Inter-American Commission “has verified with deep concern a
sustained increase of threats and attacks against those who defend human rights in
recent years [in Guatemala], that have significantly intensified during [2002, and
according to] information received by the Commission, to date none of those
responsible for said attacks have been prosecuted;”
b)
that during processing of the cases “for the extrajudicial execution of
anthropologist Myrna Mack Chang, [...] there have been a number of threats and