friendly settlement. During the processing of the petition, however, no such agreement materialized. 10. By means of a letter dated February 10, 2003, received at the IACHR Executive Secretariat on February 11, 2003, the State asked the Commission to ratify the agreement signed by the victim’s family and the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA); that letter was then duly forwarded to the petitioners. On May 2, 2003, the petitioners informed the Executive Secretariat of the IACHR that they disagreed with the State’s request that the agreement be ratified because, in their opinion, it obeys national parameters alone and not the international standards developed by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. 11. In a communication of August 23, 2004, received at the IACHR Executive Secretariat on August 24, 2004, the State submitted its comments on the petitioners’ note. On December 20, 2004, the petitioners submitted additional information and asked the IACHR to proceed with the report on admissibility; this was conveyed to the State, along with a one month period in which to return its comments. On February 3, 2005, the State asked the IACHR for a 15-day extension, on account of the fact that it was gathering details from the authorities involved. 12. By means of a letter dated July 14, 2006, received at the Executive Secretariat on July 17, 2006, the State sent its comments on the petitioners’ submission; those were then forwarded to the petitioners on August 21, 2006, along with a one month deadline in which to submit their reply. 13. On September 21, 2006, the Secretariat of the IACHR received a communication from Tomás Trueba Loera, the father of the alleged victim, stating his interest in continuing with the proceedings before the Inter-American Commission. 14. On that same date, the petitioners and Tomás Trueba Loera sent the IACHR further comments on the State’s communication. The Inter-American Commission, on April 12, 2007, forwarded the petitioners’ additional comments to the State. III. A. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES The Petitioners 15. The petitioners state that on August 22, 1998, Mirey Trueba, Vidal Trueba, and Jorge Jiménez were driving in a pick-up truck through the streets of Baborigame, Guadalupe y Calvo municipality, in the state of Chihuahua, when they were stopped by members of the Mexican Army. They allege that Mirey Trueba, 3