139
outdoor recess time in the prison yard and from other activities, to acts of torture or cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment.
386.
For example, in the context of the case of the Miguel Castro Castro
Prison, it was determined that following the events of the operation known as “Mudanza
1,” the inmates who remained at that detention center were targets of several forms of
aggression, including the so‐called “dark alley” (callejón oscuro), a method of collective
punishment consisting “of forcing the detainee to walk between a double file of agents
who would beat them with blunt instruments such as sticks and metal or rubber batons,
and whoever fell down on the ground received more beatings until they reached the other
461
end of the alley.” Additionally, it was established that the inmates were subjected to
other forms of collective punishment such as:
Beatings with metal rods on their soles, commonly identified as falanga
beatings; application of electric shocks; beating carried out by many
agents with sticks and kicking which included blows to the head, the hips
and other body parts where victims were injured; and the use of
punishment known as the “hole.” 462
387.
Likewise, during its visit to the province of Buenos Aires, the Rapporteur
on the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty also received information about the alleged
use of the torture commonly known as “falanga” or “pata‐pata,” at the hands of Buenos
Aires Penitentiary Service staff. 463
388.
Additionally, in 2005, the Commission received reports on the systematic
practice in Ecuador of subjecting persons deprived of liberty, who are recaptured after
escaping or attempting to escape, to solitary confinement and other physical and
psychological punishments. 464 This is a widespread practice in several countries of the
region, which is used as punishment to set an example, inasmuch as escapes compromise
the security system of the jail and the prison staff itself.
389.
During his visit to Chile in 2008, the Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons
Deprived of Liberty observed that the following transpired at all of the prison facilities he
visited: excessive and gratuitous use of force and punishment, systematic practice of
physical abuse by members of the Gendarmeria (the correctional security force), and the
461
I/A Court H.R., Case of Miguel Castro‐Castro Prison V. Peru. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment
of November 25, 2006. Series C No. 160, para. 297.
462
I/A Court H.R., Case of Miguel Castro‐Castro Prison V. Peru. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment
of November 25, 2006. Series C No. 160, para. 320.
463
IACHR, Press Release 64/10 ‐ IACHR Rapporteurship Confirms Grave Detention Conditions in Buenos
Aires Province. Washington, D.C., June 21, 2010. The IACHR has also addressed this particular form of torture in:
IACHR, Report No. 172/10, Case 12.651, Merits, César Alberto Mendoza et al., Argentina, November 2, 2010,
para. 291.
464
IACHR, Annual Report 2005, Chapter IV, Ecuador, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.124. Doc. 7, adopted on February
27, 2006, para. 185.
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