107
D.
Deaths directly perpetrated by agents of the State
301.
In addition to deaths arising from prison violence and gross negligence on
the part of the State, another of the observed forms of serious violation of the right to life
of persons deprived of their liberty, although statistically inferior to the above, is through
acts directly imputable to the State, including, for example, extrajudicial execution; acts of
torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment resulting in the death of the victim; and
forced disappearance of persons deprived of liberty.
Extrajudicial executions 341
302.
In this connection, the Commission received information that at 2:00 a.m.
on September 25, 2006, a joint operation code‐named “Restauración 2006” was carried out
at Pavón Prison in Guatemala, in which the police, army, prisons service, and officials from
the Office of the Attorney General took part. The stated objective of the operation was to
regain control of the prison, which for more than a decade had been in the hands of a
criminal organization of inmates known as the Committee for Order and Discipline (COD).
During the operation agents of the State allegedly executed seven inmates, some of whom
were recognized as COD ringleaders, in circumstances where they were reportedly offering
342
no resistance.
303.
The IACHR has also received information that on April 5, 2003, at El
Porvenir Penal Farm in Honduras, there was a riot between members of the Mara 18 gang
and prison trustees known as rondines (common prisoners illegally delegated disciplinary
authority, which they impose even by use of force), which reportedly included the
341
For decades, both the Inter‐American Court and the IACHR have been pronouncing decisions in
cases of extrajudicial execution of persons deprived of liberty in the region, such as: (1) The suppression of a riot
in San Juan Bautista Prison (formerly “El Frontón”) on June 19, 1986, in which the Peruvian Armed Forces used
artillery, killing at least 111 inmates. I/A Court H.R., Case of Durand and Ugarte Case V. Peru. Judgment of August
16, 2000. Series C No. 68, paras. 59 and 68; I/A Court H.R., Case of Neira Alegría et al. V. Peru. Judgment of
January 19, 1995. Series C No. 20, para. 69. (2) “Operation Mudanza 1” launched on May 6, 1992, in which
different units of the Peruvian state security forces executed an attack using military weapons (including
grenades, rockets, bombs, helicopter gunships, mortars, and tanks) against male and female inmates of cellblocks
1A and 4B of Miguel Castro Castro Prison, in which 41 prisoners died. I/A Court H.R., Case of the Miguel Castro‐
Castro Prison V. Peru. Judgment of November 25, 2006. Series C No. 160. paras. 211, 216, 222, and 223. (3) The
storming by the National Guard and Metropolitan Police of Venezuela of Los Flores de Catia Detention Center, in
which they shot indiscriminately at inmates using firearms and teargas, killing approximately 63 people. I/A Court
H.R., Case of Montero Aranguren et al. (Detention Center of Catia) V. Venezuela. Judgment of July 5, 2006. Series C
No. 150, paras. 60.16, 60.25, and 60.27. (4) The massacre at Carandirú Detention Center on October 2, 1992, in
which the Military Police fired indiscriminately at inmates, most of whom had surrendered and were unarmed,
causing 111 deaths. IACHR, Report No. 34/00, Case 11.291, Merits, Carandiru, Brazil, April 13, 2000, paras. 1, 10‐
14, 67 and 69.
342
As a result of the events of September 25, 2006, the IACHR wrote two letters to the State requesting
confidential information: one on September 27, 2006, and the other on November 27, 2007. On October 19, 2006,
in the context of the 126th regular session of the IACHR, there was a meeting with a delegation of the State of
Guatemala at which the Commission received detailed information. Subsequently, on November 22, 2010, a
meeting was held with representatives of the CICIG and the Institute for Comparative Studies in Criminal Sciences
of Guatemala [Instituto de Estudios Comparados en Ciencias Penales de Guatemala] (ICCPG). See also, Informe
Anual Circunstanciado 2006 [Detailed Annual Report 2006] (p. 738) and Informe Final del Caso de Pavón [Final
Report on the Pavón Case], both issued by the Ombudsman of Guatemala and available HERE in “Documents.”
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