12 of extreme gravity and urgency and when necessary to avoid irreparable damage to persons. 2 7. That provisional measures are of an exceptional nature and are issued depending on the need for protection. Once they are ordered, they should be maintained as long as the Court believes that there exists a situation of extreme gravity and urgency and when necessary to avoid irreparable damage to persons 3 . 8. That according to the provision established in Article 63(2) of the Convention, provisional measures ordered by the Court are binding on the State in conformity to a basic principle of the law of international responsibility of the States, as supported by international case law, under which States are required to comply with international treaty obligations in good faith (pacta sunt servanda) 4 . 9. That in other cases the Court has issued protective measures regarding a group of persons not previously identified, but who can be identified and ascertained, and are at risk of being in severe danger because they belong to a certain group or community, 5 such as the detainees at a prison. 6 In the instant case, the possible beneficiaries are identifiable as they are held in the above mentioned detention center. 10. That in light of the State’s responsibility to adopt protective measures to safeguard the persons under its jurisdiction, the Court deems that such obligation is even more evident regarding persons held in a detention center, in which case the State is the guarantor of the rights of the persons under its custody and given that the penitentiary authorities exercise total control over them. 7 11. That “one of the unavoidable obligations that the State has to assume in its capacity as guarantor, with the purpose of protecting and securing the right to life and humane 2 Cf. Matter of James et al. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of May 17, 1998, Considering paragraph seventh; Matter of Adrián Meléndez Quijano et al. Provisional Measures. Order of the InterAmerican Court of May 12, 2007, Considering paragraph fifteenth, and Mater of the Pueblo indígena Kankuamo. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of January 30, 2007, Considering paragraph sixth. 3 Cf. Case of the Constitutional Court. Provisional Measures, supra note 1, Considering paragraph third; Case of Raxcacó Reyes et al. Motion to extend the Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of February 2, 2007, Considering paragraph fourth, and Matter of the Penitentiary Center of the Central Occidental Region (Uribana Prison). Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of February 2, 2007, Considering paragraph twelfth. 4 Cf. Matter of James et al. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of June 14, 1998, Considering paragraph sixth; Matter of Adrián Meléndez Quijano et al. Provisional Measures, supra note 2, Considering paragraph sixth, and Case of Raxcacó Reyes et al. Motion to extend the Provisional Measures, supra note 3, Considering paragraph fifth. 5 Cf. Matter of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó. Provisional Measures. Order of the InterAmerican Court of November 24, 2000, Considering paragraph seventh; Matter of the Pueblo indígena Kankuamo. Provisional Measures, supra note 2, Considering paragraph thirteenth, and Matter of the Communities of Jiguamiandó and Curbaradó. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of July 7, 2006, Considering paragraph eighth. 6 Cf. Matter of Urso Branco Prison. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of June 18, 2002, Considering paragraph seventh; Matter of the Penitentiary Center of the Central Occidental Region (Uribana Prison). Provisional Measures, supra note 3, Considering paragraph sixth, and Matter of the persons imprisoned in the "Dr. Sebastião Martins Silveira" Penitentiary in Araraquara, São Paulo. Provisional Measures. Order of the InterAmerican Court of September 30, 2006, Considering paragraph eighth. 7 Cf. Matter of Urso Branco Prison. Provisional Measures, supra note 6, Considering paragraph eighth; Matter of the Penitentiary Center of the Central Occidental Region (Uribana Prison). Provisional Measures, supra note 3, Considering paragraph seventh, and Matter of the persons imprisoned in the "Dr. Sebastião Martins Silveira" Penitentiary in Araraquara, São Paulo. Provisional Measures, supra note 6, Considering paragraph eleventh.