88
his life by another member of the Community, this Court considers that such deaths
are not attributable to the State.
180. Finally, the Court ascertains that Pedro Fernández, 79 years old, (supra para.
73(74)(20),) Eusebio Ayala, 80 years old (supra para. 73(74)(21) died of pneumonia
and Lucía Aponte, 50 years old (supra para. 73(74)(22),) died of tuberculosis, and
that life expectation in Paraguay was 59.6 years for men and 64.2 years for women.
Taking into account the aforesaid, and also the lack of further evidence, this Court
cannot find that such deaths are totally attributable to the State.
XI.
ARTICLE 5 OF THE AMERICAN CONVENTION
(RIGHT TO HUMANE TREATMENT)
AS REGARDS TO ARTICLE 1(1) thereof
Allegations by the Commission
181.
As regards to Article 5 of the Convention, in connexion with Article 1(1)
thereof, the Commission alleged that the living conditions that the Sawhoyamaxa
Community currently has to endure are infra-human. If the State had guaranteed its
members their right to live in their ancestral lands, in such a way as to allow them to
practice their traditional subsistence activities, the living conditions would have
improved.
Allegations by the representatives
182.
The representatives alleged the following:
a)
by failing to restore the ancestral lands and the traditional habitat to
the Sawhoyamaxa Community, the State has prevented their members from
hunting, fishing and gathering in the claimed lands and habitat, thus affecting
their cultural and religious identity, and further placing them in a situation of
extreme vulnerability characterized by extreme poverty and inadequate
observance of their basic rights, such as the rights to health and food, and
b)
the State has violated the right to humane treatment of the members
of the Sawhoyamaxa Community for its failure to adopt the necessary
measures to prevent unnecessary moral and psychological suffering. The long
years waiting for the restitution of their lands have caused them feelings of
sadness and a deep sense of lack of protection and frustration. The
impossibility of burying their dead in the ancestral land, and following their
rituals and traditions, generates feelings of sadness and guilt to the members
of the Community. To Furthermore, they also fear to be assaulted by “white
men or Paraguayan people”, when they covertly access their ancestral land to
carry out their traditional practices.
Allegations by the State.
183. The State has not filed any specific arguments regarding Article 5(1) of the
Convention.