6 Province of Buenos Aires to order the judge in charge of the investigation to detain the only defendant in the case and to take a preliminary statement. They reported that, with the deadline to order preventative detention nearing, the judge ordered the release of the defendant for lack of merit. 39. They added that the criminal investigation was completely paralyzed, with no possibility of punishing those responsible for the death of Deputy Commissioner Gutiérrez because the criminal proceedings regarding the suspected masterminds had come up against the statute of limitations, and there had been virtually no investigative measures taken regarding one of the suspected perpetrators of the murder. 40. In their arguments during the merits stage, the petitioners maintain that the alleged acts are violations of articles 4, 8, and 25 with relation to 1(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights, due to the death of Jorge Omar Gutiérrez and the subsequent denial of justice to the detriment of his widow Nilda del Valle Maldonado, their children: Jorge Gabriel Gutiérrez, David Gutiérrez and Marlin Verónica Gutiérrez, and his brother Francisco Virgilio Gutiérrez, all immediate relatives of Deputy Commissioner Gutiérrez. B. Position of the State 41. In a meeting held between the parties on December 5, 2006, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the context of the Commission's working visit, the State reported the issuing of Decree No. 3241/2006 on December 4, 2006, by the executive branch of the Province of Buenos Aires. The decree acknowledged "the Provincial State's responsibility for the violation of the rights recognized in articles 8 and 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights" and committed to "taking all necessary measures, with full respect for the division of powers, to broaden the investigations linked to the murder of Deputy Commissioner Jorge Omar Gutiérrez, as well as to guarantee the personal safety of his relatives." The Provincial State also expressed its commitment to "continuing its participation at the open dialog table in the framework of the case's friendly settlement proceeding for the purpose of evaluating, along with the National State and the petitioners, the progress of the investigations in motion, as well as to take all necessary measures within its range of authority to get justice in this case and avoid the repetition of 6 similar incidents." It committed itself to "provide adequate reparations for the victim's relatives." 42. In OAS note 130, dated May 23, 2007, the State indicated that with Decree No. 3241/2006 of December 4, 2006, a fundamentally important step had been taken in the framework of the efforts made toward reaching a friendly settlement in the case. It therefore expressed that it was "the wrong time to rule on the eventual juridical merits of the case." Regarding the decree, the Commission was informed by representatives of the Argentine State during the hearing held on March 19, 2010, that after the decree was issued, other provincial government authorities objected to it and it was nullified. They also highlighted that the federal government never issued a decree or ruling acknowledging international responsibility in this case. 43. It should be noted that during the processing of admissibility and with regard to the petitioners’ allegations on the violation of Deputy Commissioner Gutiérrez’ right to life, the State argued that they were groundless. It did so by asserting that the arguments are nothing more than speculation on the motives behind the murder and the responsibility of State agents. At this point in the proceeding before the Commission, the State argued that the petitioners had not provided a single element of fact or law demonstrating the participation of State agents in the murder of Deputy Commissioner Gutiérrez, nor demonstrating the domestic judicial system’s failure to react to the crime. 44. Following the issuing of the Admissibility Report No. 01/03 by the Commission, the Argentine State did not submit any arguments to the Commission with regard to the merits of the matter. 6 In OAS note 130, dated May 23, 2007, the Argentine government sent the Commission a copy of Decree No. 3241/2006 issued on December 4, 2006.