Vladimiro Roca Antunez and Others vs. Cuba (Report No 27/18, Case 12.127)

Key paragraph(s) can be found below the document.

97. The IACHR has explicitly reiterated that “vague, ambiguous, broad or open-ended laws, by their mere existence, discourage the dissemination of information and opinions out of fear of punishment, and can lead to broad judicial interpretations that unduly restrict freedom of expression,” and lead to abuse as a means of silencing ideas and information critical of the government (…).
137. The Commission has long underscored the self-evident nature of the presumption of innocence in criminal proceedings, and has urged the States to guarantee that it is expressly established in their domestic laws. It is notable that this presumption may be considered to have been violated when the person is detained in pretrial custody on a criminal charge for a prolonged period of time without the proper justification, because such detention turns
into a penalty rather than a precautionary measure, which is the equivalent of an advance sentence.
144. The bodies of the inter-American system have held that all persons deprived of their liberty are entitled to live under conditions of detention compatible with their personal dignity, and that the State must guarantee their rights to life and humane treatment. Consequently, the State, as the entity responsible for detention facilities, is the guarantor of those detainee rights (…).
145. The IACHR has established that the prolonged isolation and incommunicado detention of the victim are, in and of themselves, forms of cruel and inhumane treatment, harmful to the mental and emotional integrity of the person and a violation of the right of every detainee to respect for the inherent dignity of the person (…)