Commentaries Inter-American Court of Human Rights: Chinchilla Sandoval v. Guatemala (29 February 2016)

In Chinchilla Sandoval v. Guatemala, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereafter ‘the Court’ or ‘IACtHR’) examines the case of a gravely ill and imprisoned woman with disabilities, Mrs. Chinchilla, who dies at the Centro de Orientacion Femenino (hereafter ‘COF’) while serving a 30-year sentence. The Court is called to examine the alleged violation of Articles 4(1) and 5(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereafter ‘the Convention’), respectively Mrs. Chinchilla’s right to life and integrity, as well as Articles 8(1) and 25(1) of the Convention on the efficacy of judicial guarantees and remedies granted to her. This is the third judgment of the Court related to the rights of persons with disabilities (See also Ximenes Lopez v. Brazil, 2006 and Furlan and Family v. Argentina, 2012), but it is the first judgment related to an imprisoned individual with disabilities. The judgment is especially important as it imposes a reinforced duty on the State vis-a-vis people with disabilities deprived of their liberty who suffer from serious or chronic illnesses, when their health may progressively deteriorate. In other words, the Court noted that Mrs. Chinchilla’s progressively deteriorating health, as a consequence of a number of illnesses, heightened Guatemala’s obligations in this case.