8 32. On June 23, 2005, the State reported that Ricardo Videla Fernández had died on June 21, 2005, at approximately 1:30 p.m., while in the cell 17 of cellblock 11 of the Mendoza Penitentiary’s Young Adults Maximum Security Facility. The State reported that he was alone at the time and that the administrative and judicial inquiries had concluded that his death was a suicide. This hypothesis was said to be supported by inspections done by professionals with the Forensic Medical Corps, the Police and the Prosecutor in charge of the investigations. Later, in a communication dated October 21, 2009, the State sent copies, in electronic format, of the files in the criminal and administrative investigations conducted in the wake of Ricardo Videla Fernández’ death. 33. Throughout the processing of the case, the State asserted that it would not submit arguments on the merits of the case. Accordingly, in the hearing held on the case on March 24, 2009, th during the Commission’s 134 regular session, the representatives of the State asserted that they would abstain from making any observations regarding the petitioners’ allegations, as it was their expectation that the Commission would ultimately decide the case based on the principles of the American Convention and of international law. The State repeated this position in its brief of observations on the merits, dated April 28, 2009, and in its final communication dated October 21, 2009. 34. As previously noted, on December 27, 2007, a request was received from the petitioners seeking precautionary measures for Lucas Matías Mendoza, Claudio David Núñez and César Alberto Mendoza, due to the beatings that the first two had allegedly suffered at the hands of the prison staff at Ezeiza Federal Penitentiary Complex No. 1 on December 9, 2007. Throughout the processing of their request seeking precautionary measures, the petitioners filed additional allegations pertaining to the conditions in which the alleged victims were being held. 35. The State’s contention in this regard was that the injuries sustained by Lucas Matías Mendoza and Claudio David Núñez were the result of a fight among inmates and not assaults by the guards at Ezeiza Federal Penitentiary Complex No. 1. 36. As for the petitioners’ contention that none of the alleged victims had served on his sentence because they were being continuously transferred, the State reported that many of the transfers were done at the request of the defense attorneys, who made the case that their clients had to be in the proximity of the city of Buenos Aires to facilitate communication with them and preparation of their defense. The State added that the defense attorneys also requested that the three be held in the same facility, regardless of what might be in each one’s best interests given the individualized treatment that the law requires. 37. In its final report on the request of precautionary measures, received on December 5, 2008, the State reported on the situation of Lucas Matías Mendoza, Claudio David Núñez and César Alberto Mendoza: (a) (b) (c) Lucas Matías Mendoza: since June 11, 2008, he has reportedly been “going through the consolidation phase of the treatment period under the prison system’s regime for progressive advancement toward re-socialization,” and in November 2008 he was in the third year of high school. Claudio David Núñez: is at the Santa Rosa Prison Colony in the La Pampa Province (Unit No. 4 of the Federal Penitentiary Service); “since January 2008 he has been in the trust phase of the treatment period under the prison system’s regime for progressive advancement toward re-socialization” while working in the tailor shop and studying Module III of the Polymodal Level. César Alberto Mendoza: has been at the Santa Rosa Penal Colony in La Pampa Province since November 10, 2008 (Unit No. 4 of the Federal Penitentiary Service); since “September 4, 2008 he has been in the test period under the prison system’s regime for progressive advancement toward re-socialization.” He is reportedly not working, but is in the seventh year of the third common cycle of basic general education.