4 responsibility with regard to other alleged violations, and indicated that the State had not fostered an environment of harassment or persecution against human rights defenders (infra paras. 20 to 25 and 30 to 33). II PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COURT 7. On March 7, 2007, the Commission’s application was notified to the State2 and to the representatives. During the proceedings before the Court, the State, the Commission, and the representatives presented their principal briefs on the merits (supra paras. 1 to 6), and on August 10 and 14, 2007, respectively, the Commission and the representatives presented their observations on the State’s acknowledgement of responsibility (supra para. 6 and infra paras. 26 and 27). On September 6, 2007, the State asked the Court not to take into account the allegations presented by the representatives in their observations of August 14, 2007, that were not relevant to the State’s partial acquiescence (supra para. 6). 8. In an order of November 30, 2007, the Court required the presentation of nine testimonies and two informative statements proposed by the Commission, the representatives, and the State, all sworn before a notary public (affidavits), and granted the parties the opportunity to submit their respective observations. Additionally, in this order, modified by the note of the Secretariat of the Court of January 22, 2008, the Inter-American Commission, the representatives, and the State were convened to a public hearing so that the Court could receive the testimony of three witnesses, two expert witnesses, and one informative deponent, as well as the final oral arguments on the merits and possible reparations and costs.3 The public hearing was held on February 6 and 7, 2008, during the Court’s seventy-eighth regular session.4 During this hearing, the State submitted various documents as evidence. 2 When the application was notified to the State, the Court asked for its opinion regarding the appointment of a judge ad hoc to participate in this case. On April 2, 2007, the State advised that it “waived its right to appoint a judge ad hoc” to hear the case. 3 Order issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on November 30, 2007, and note of the Secretariat of the Inter-American Court of January 22, 2008. 4 The following persons attended the public hearing: (a) for the Inter-American Commission: Víctor Abramovich and Santiago A. Canton, Delegates, and Juan Pablo Albán, Karin Mansel, and Lilly Ching Soto, advisers; (b) for the representatives: María Victoria Fallon Morales, Patricia Fuenmayor Gómez, Luz Adriana Valle Noreña, John Arturo Cárdenas Mesa and Jael Quiroga Carrillo of the GIDH, and Gustavo Gallón Giraldo and Luz Marina Monzón Cifuentes of the Comisión Colombiana de Juristas; and (c) for the State: Jorge Aníbal Gómez and Pedro Elías Díaz Romero, Agents, and Luis Guillermo Fernández, Colombian Ambassador to Costa Rica; (c) for the State: Jorge Aníbal Gómez and Pedro Elías Díaz Romero, as Agents, and Luis Guillermo Fernández, Colombian Ambassador to Costa Rica; Clara Inés Vargas Silva, Director of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Mónica Barrera Romero, Director of National Judicial Defense of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice; Alex de Jesús Salgado, Director of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Defense; Juan Carlos Gómez Ramírez, Director of Human Rights of the Ministry of Defense; Francisco Javier Echeverri Lara, Director of the International Affairs Office of the Prosecutor General’s Office; Carlos Franco, Director of the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Program of the Presidency of the Republic; Margarita Rey, Second Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Colombia to the Organization of American States; Héctor Adolfo Sintura, Adviser to the Legal Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic; Paula Lizano Van Der Latt, Adviser to the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Isabella Mariño, Adviser to the Human Rights Directorate of the Minister’s Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; María Constanza Alonzo, Adviser to the National Judicial Defense Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice; Edith Claudia Hernández Aguilar, Coordinator for Defense before International Organizations of the Ministry of Defense; Sonia Uribe, Coordinator of the Litigation Group of the Ministry of Defense; Liliana Romero, Adviser to the International Affairs Office of the Office of the Prosecutor General; Amparo Cerón, Special Prosecutor of the Human Rights Unit of the Office of the Prosecutor General; and Alexandra Montenegro, Adviser to the Legal Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic.