25
duty to prevent human rights violations committed by third persons may give rise to the
international responsibility of the State. 96
75.
With respect to this duty of the State to effectively protect persons
deprived of liberty, even vis‐à‐vis third persons, the IACHR has also indicated that:
[I]n addition to an adequate regulatory framework for prisons, there is an
urgent need to implement specific actions and policies with an
immediate impact on the situation of risk faced by detainees. The State’s
obligation toward prison inmates is not limited to merely enacting
provisions to protect them, nor is it enough for state agents to refrain
from actions that could injure the lives and persons of detainees; instead,
international human rights law requires States to adopt all measures
available to them to guarantee the lives and personal integrity of people
97
held in their custody.
76.
In this sense, for the State to be able to effectively ensure prisoners’
rights it must exercise effective control over the prisons. In other words, the State should
take charge of the fundamental aspects of prison administration, for example maintaining
security inside and outside the prison; providing the basic goods and services necessary for
the prisoners’ lives; and preventing crime from being committed in or from prisons. In this
respect, the Inter‐American Court has recognized the existence of the authority and even
the obligation of the State to guarantee security and maintain public order, especially
within the prisons, using methods in line with the applicable norms for the protection of
98
human rights.
96
I/A Court H.R., Case of Ximenes Lopes V. Brazil. Judgment of July 4, 2006. Series C No. 149, paras. 85
and 86. This case is cited as representative due to the facts that gave rise to it; nonetheless, this doctrine on the
situation in which the international responsibility of the state is triggered by the actions of third persons has been
gradually developed by the Court from its first merits decision. See, I/A Court H.R., Case of Velásquez Rodríguez V.
Honduras. Judgment of July 29, 1988. Series C No. 4, para. 172. In addition, this doctrine has been reiterated
systematically by the Inter‐American Court in the context of the provisional measures granted with respect to
prisons. See, for example: I/A Court H.R., Provisional Measures in the matter of Centro Penitenciario de Aragua
“Cárcel de Tocorón,” Venezuela, Order of the President of the Inter‐American Court of Human Rights, November
1, 2010, Considering paragraph 13; I/A Court H.R., Provisional Measures in the matter of the Capital El Rodeo I &
El Rodeo II Judicial Confinement Center, Order of the Inter‐American Court of Human Rights, February 8, 2008,
Considering paragraph 11; I/A Court H.R., Provisional Measures in the matter of Penitentiary Center of the Central
Occidental Region (Uribana Prison), Order of the Inter‐American Court, February 2, 2007, Considering paragraph
5; I/A Court H.R., Provisional Measures in the matter of Yare I and Yare II Capital Region Penitentiary Center (Yare
Prison), Order of the Inter‐American Court of Human Rights, March 30, 2006, Considering paragraph 14; I/A Court
H.R., Provisional Measures in the matter of the Monagas Judicial Confinement Center (“La Pica”), Order of the
President of the Inter‐American Court of Human Rights, January 13, 2006, Considering paragraph 14; I/A Court
H.R., Provisional Measures in the matter of the Mendoza Prisons, Order of the Inter‐American Court, November
22, 2004, Considering paragraph 12. In granting these provisional measures, the Court took into consideration the
alarming levels of violence among inmates in those prisons.
97
IACHR, Democracy and Human Rights in Venezuela, Ch. VI, para. 826.
98
I/A Court H.R., Case of the Miguel Castro Castro Prison V. Peru. Judgment of November 25, 2006.
Series C No. 160, para. 240; 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, para. 70; I/A Court H.R., Provisional Measures in the matter
of Yare I and Yare II Capital Region Penitentiary Center (Yare Prison), Order of the Inter‐American Court of Human
Rights, March 30, 2006, Considering paragraph 15.
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