Resolution No. 4/19( EXTENSION )
PM 496-14, 37-15 - Persons deprived of their liberty at 15 police stations or other police facilities in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina

On February 11, 2019, the IACHR decided to extend the precautionary measures in force in favor of persons deprived of their liberty at 15 police stations in the province of Buenos Aires, in Argentina. The request for an extension notes that the relevant persons are at risk, given their conditions of detention. Several of the facilities in question have been the object of court or administrative decisions ordering that such facilities be disables, suspended or shut down. After assessing the legal and factual allegations submitted by the parties, the Commission considers that the information that has been received shows, in principle, that the rights to life and personal integrity of the proposed beneficiaries are at risk. Consequently, in keeping with Article 25 in the IACHR’s Rules of Procedure, the Commission asks the State of Argentina to adopt any measures necessary to preserve the lives and the personal integrity of persons who are being deprived of their liberty at police stations and other police facilities identified in this resolution. These measures need to take into consideration the specific situation of certain groups, such as women or older persons. Further, the IACHR asks Argentina to take any measures necessary to ensure that the conditions in which those people are being kept at police stations and other police facilities identified in this resolution reflect the applicable international standards. In that context, the Commission asks the State to immediately provide adequate conditions regarding hygiene, access to water fit for human consumption, food and medical care suitable for specific health issues; to implement an immediate contingency plan to reduce prolonged stays at police stations and other police facilities, considering the need for such stays to be temporary; and to take any actions necessary to substantially reduce overcrowding, with a commitment to preventing inmate transfers to other detention centers in similar conditions. That includes reviewing the situation of persons deprived of their liberty, based on the applicable pretrial detention standards. The IACHR further asks the State to move to disable, suspend or shut down police stations or other police facilities—in compliance with the decisions made by the competent authorities who ordered such measures—and to make emergency plans for any contingency and provide any tools and instruments necessary to that end. Finally, the Commission asks the State to come to an agreement with beneficiaries and their representatives regarding any measures that need to be taken, and to report on any actions adopted to investigate the events that gave rise to the adoption of this precautionary measure, in order to prevent such events from happening again in the future.

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