on non-applicability filed by the injured party and order[ed] Chamber I of the Criminal Appeals and Guarantees Chamber [of the Judicial Department] of La Plata, to conduct the public oral proceeding with the [presumed participant]” and rejected as inadmissible the special appeal on unconstitutionality and the special appeal of nullity. 153 The injured parties filed a special federal appeal against this decision. Lastly, on September 27, 2013, the Criminal Secretariat of the Supreme Court advised that the special federal appeal was being examined to decide on its admissibility. 154 VIII MERITS 73. In light of the considerations in Chapter IV on the acknowledgement of responsibility made by Argentina and the Agreement signed by the parties, in this chapter the Court will analyze, in particular with regard to the obligation to respect and ensure the right to life, first, the acts that constituted the State’s failure to comply with its obligation to respect the right to life; second, those facts that resulted in Argentina’s failure to comply with its obligation to investigate the murder of Jorge Omar Gutiérrez effectively in order to ensure his right to life, and the right to the judicial guarantees and judicial protection of his family members and, lastly, the violation of the right to personal integrity of the latter owing to the events that occurred. VIII-1 RIGHT TO LIFE IN RELATION TO THE OBLIGATION TO RESPECT RIGHTS A. Arguments of the parties and of the Commission 74. The Commission considered, taking into account the body of evidence and the indications of the participation of State agents, as well as the absence of a diligent investigation by the State, that Argentina had failed to comply with its obligation to respect and protect the life of Jorge Omar Gutiérrez, in violation of Article 4(1) of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) thereof. In this regard, it found that there was sufficient evidence, “in both the criminal proceedings, and in the special investigation carried out by the Special Investigative Commission of the Chamber of Deputies,” to confirm the participation of agents of the State in the violation of the right to life, which gave rise to Argentina’s responsibility for the violation of the obligation concerning respect. In addition, in the context of the obligation concerning guarantee, the Commission indicated that the death of Mr. Gutiérrez remains in impunity. It also emphasized that the final report of the Special Investigative Commission of the Chamber of Deputies referred to the relationship that existed between the execution of Jorge Omar Gutiérrez and the case of the “parallel customs house.” For their part, the representatives agreed, in general, with the arguments presented by the Commission. 153 Cf. Decision of June 18, 2013, of the Supreme Court of Justice of the province of Buenos Aires (merits file, folios 1496 to 1502). 154 Cf. Communication of October 29, 2013, addressed by the President of the Criminal Appeals and Guarantees Chamber to the Deputy Secretary for the protection of human rights of the Human Rights Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights (merits file, folio 1453). The representatives indicated in their brief with observations on the useful evidence forwarded by the State, that their “claim [against impunity] had not been recognized in a decision of the Supreme Court of Justice of the province of Buenos Aires of October 23, 2013, [which] rejected the special federal appeal filed by the petitioners, and which led them to file a remedy of complaint before the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.” However, they did not submit evidence on this point. 31