25
94.
The right to personal integrity is of such importance that the American Convention
establishes specific protection for it by establishing, inter alia, the prohibition of torture, cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment, and the impossibility that these be suspended during a state of emergency.92
95.
The Inter-American Court has stated that the absolute prohibition of torture, both
physical and psychological, today belongs to the International dominion of jus cogens and that this
prohibition subsists even in the most difficult circumstances, such as war, threats of war, the battle
against terrorism and any other crime, stages of siege or emergency, uproar or internal conflict,
suspension of constitutional guarantees, political instability, or other emergencies or public calamities.93
The same court has indicated that universal and regional treaties enshrine this prohibition and the nonderogable right not to be tortured. Similarly, new international instruments contain this right and
repeat the same prohibition, even under international humanitarian law.94
96.
The Court has similarly established that “[the] infringement of the right to physical and
psychological integrity of the human person is a type of violation which has a varying connotation and
which encompasses torture and other types of mistreatment or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment
whose physical and psychological consequences may have different degrees of intensity according to
the extrinsic and intrinsic factors which should be proved in each specific situation.”95 That is to say, the
personal characteristics of an alleged victim when people are submitted to certain treatments.
97.
With regard to the scope of the State’s obligations and its responsibility, the UN
Committee Against Torture has indicated that
[E]ach State party should prohibit, prevent and redress torture and ill-treatment in all contexts of
custody or control, for example, in prisons, hospitals, schools, institutions that engage in the care
92
I/A Ct. H.R. Case of the Juvenile Reeducation Institute V. Paraguay. Preliminary Exceptions, Merits, Reparations and
Costs. Judgment of 2 September 2004. Series C No. 112, para. 157.
93
I/A Ct. H.R., Case of Bueno Alves. Judgment of 11 May 2007. Series C. No. 164, para. 76; I/A Ct. H.R., Case of the
Miguel Castro Castro Prison. Judgment of 25 November 2006. Series C No. 160, para. 271 y I/A Ct. H.R., Case of Baldeón García.
Judgment of 6 April 2006. Series C No. 147, para. 117.
94
I/A Ct. H.R., Case of Bueno Alves. Judgment of 11 May 2007. Series C. No. 164, para. 77, citing: International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, Art. 7; Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment, Art. 2; Convention on the Rights of the Child, Art. 37, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of
Migrant Workers and their Families, Art. 10; Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture, art. 2; African Charter
on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Art. 5; African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, Art. 16; Inter-American
Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belém do Pará), Art. 4,
and European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties, Art. 3; Body of Principles for the
Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, Principle 6; Code of conduct for public officials with
responsibility for executing the law, Art. 5; UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of Liberty, Rule 87(a); Declaration
on the rights of individuals who are not nationals of the country in which they live, Art. 6; UN Standard Minimum Rules for the
administration of juvenile justice (Beijing Rules), Rule 17.3; Declaration on the protection of women and children in emergency
and armed conflict, Art. 4, and Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on human rights and the fight
against terrorism, Guideline IV; and Common Article 3 of the Four Geneva Conventions; Convention relative to the Treatment of
Prisoners of War (Third Convention), Arts. 49, 52, 87 y 89, 97; Convention relative to the Protection of Civilians in time of War
(Fourth Convention), Arts. 40, 51, 95, 96, 100 y 119; Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 related
to the Protection of Victims from Armed International Conflicts (Protocol I), Art. 75.2.ii, y Additional Protocol to the Geneva
Conventions of August 12, 1949 related to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), Art.
4.2.a.
95
I/A Ct. H.R., Case of Ximenes López v. Brasil, Series C. No. 149, Judgment of 4 July 2006, para. 127; Case of Loayza
Tamayo. Judgment of 17 September 1997. Series C No. 33, para. 57.