Petition related to the death of five street children. Interpretation of right to life as including minimum conditions for a dignified life. The States’ obligation to adopt special measures aimed at children. Interpretation of American Convention based on International Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In its decision dated November 27, 2003, the Court considered the State had complied with most of the measures ordered. The Court also decided to maintain a supervision process open to follow up on the enforcement of the obligation to investigate the facts, try and sanction those responsible for human rights violations. The Court asked the State to submit a compliance report by April 1, 2004.
This was the first time the Inter-American Court referred to the States’ obligation to adopt special measures to protect children, basing its interpretation on the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, its interpretation did not include a precise scope of the legal framework. Furthermore, the Court defined the right to life in a comprehensive way including not only the right to not being deprived of life arbitrarily, but also the access to conditions guaranteeing a dignified life (see below: Mary Beloff, “Cuando un caso no es “el caso”. Comentario a la sentencia Villagrán Morales y otros (Caso de los “Niños de la calle”).
Petitioners: Centro por la Justicia y el Derecho Internacional (http://www.cejil.org) and Casa Alianza de Nicaragua (http://www.casa-alianza.org).