The Rights of the Child in the Case Law of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: Recent Cases
2005; Oxford University Press; Volume: 5; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1093/hrlrev/ngi007
ISSN1744-1021
Autores Tópico(s)Judicial and Constitutional Studies
ResumoThe present commentary considers two cases decided in 2004 by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (the Court) concerning the rights of the child as protected by Article 19 of the American Convention on Human Rights (the Convention). 1 In the first of these cases the Court takes a nuanced approach to Article 19, incorporating its requirements into the other substantive rights of the Convention rather than examining it in isolation. In the second case the Court considers the torture and extrajudicial execution of two minors during an anti-terrorism campaign in Peru in 1991. This judgment reinforces the State's obligation to respect human rights even when combating terrorism, which is pertinent given the current global ‘war’ on terror. The ‘Panchito Lopez’ Institute near Asuncion, Paraguay was a severely overpopulated and under-resourced government detention centre for minors. 3 Considering the general conditions of detention, particular incidents involving injury to, and loss of life by, inmates (resulting from fires and acts of violence) and the inadequacy of local remedies, 4 the Court determined that Paraguay had violated Articles 2 (duty to implement the Convention guarantees), 4(1) (right to life), 5(1), 5(2), 5(6) (right to humane treatment), 8(1) (right to a fair trial), in conjunction with Article 1(1) (duty to respect the Convention rights) and in light of Article 19 (rights of the child); and Article 25(1) (right to judicial protection) in conjunction with Article 1(1) in relation to various inmates of the Institute, 5 as well as Article 5(1) with Article 1(1) in relation to their families. 6
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