Vélez Loor v. Panamá

Nature of the Case

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights granted a request for provisionary measures, requiring Panama to enact all measures necessary for the protection of the rights to health, personal integrity, and life of individuals held in its migrant detention centers in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to heightened levels of overcrowding, deteriorating infrastructure, and increased susceptibility to disease and violence in the context of the pandemic, the Court found there to be extreme gravity, urgency, and irreparable damage to justify the imposition of provisionary measures.

Enforcement of the Decision and Outcomes

To monitor compliance with the provisional measures, the Court requested periodic reports from the State of Panama on the measures adopted for this purpose. It also held public hearings, conducted an on-site visit and issued two resolutions: one in 2021, in which it decided to extend the provisional measures in favor of the persons detained in the immigration detention center of San Vicente and in the receiving community of Bajo Chiquito; and the other in 2022, in which it decided to lift the provisional measures.

As a consequence of the provisional measures, in September 2020, the State inaugurated the San Vicente Migratory Detention Center, which has better conditions than those that existed previously. In addition, on January 28, 2021, the State closed the La Peñita Migratory Detention Center, where people were kept in the worst conditions.

Furthermore, in its Resolution of 2022, the Court considered that the State adopted a series of measures that, although did not resolve the problems of respect for the human rights of migrants (particularly in relation to women and children), nonetheless contributed, together with the evolution of the pandemic, to the fact that the situation of extreme gravity and urgency for which the provisional measures were adopted no longer persisted. The Court also established that it would continue to follow up on these problems through its judgment monitoring mechanism in the Vélez Loor case.

Significance of the Case

The Court’s decision in this case created a precedent for holding states accountable to respecting the rights of migrant persons in detention in the context of the pandemic. In particular, it set forth several minimum obligations that should be implemented in response to the pandemic, including reducing overcrowded conditions so as to mitigate the spread of the virus, establishing other preventative protocols to reduce the spread of the virus, and providing adequate medical care for migrants without discrimination. Specifically, it held that Panama was obliged to adopt all necessary measures to guarantee the rights to health, personal integrity, and life of detained migrants and refugees in its detention centers in the Darien Province. In other words, the Court’s approval of the representatives’ request for provisional measures—a measure granted only in the most extraordinary of circumstances—signaled its expectation that States take care to guarantee the human rights of vulnerable populations in their care.

For their contributions, special thanks to ESCR-Net members: the Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy (PHRGE) at Northeastern University.

Groups Involved in the Case

• CEJIL (legal representatives for Vélez Loor)