comments on the representatives’ briefs dated August 29 and 30 and October 10 and 20, 2011 (supra Having Seen 3). 5. The public hearing held by the Court at its seat in San José, Costa Rica, on June 27, 2011.2 CONSIDERING THAT: 1. Colombia has been a State Party to the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter “the American Convention”) since July 13, 1973, and that it recognized the obligatory jurisdiction of the Court on June 21, 1985. 2. Article 63(2) of the American Convention establishes that “[i]n cases of extreme gravity and urgency, and when necessary to avoid irreparable damage to persons, the Court shall adopt such provisional measures as it deems pertinent in matters it has under consideration. With respect to a case not yet submitted to the Court, it may act at the request of the Commission.” 3. In this regard, Article 27 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court (hereinafter “the Rules of Procedure”)3 establishes in its pertinent part that: 1. At any stage of proceedings involving cases of extreme gravity and urgency, and when necessary to avoid irreparable damage to persons, the Court may, on its own motion, order such provisional measures as it deems appropriate, pursuant to Article 63(2) of the Convention. 2. With respect to matters not yet submitted to it, the Court may act at the request of the Commission. […] 4. In International Human Rights Law, provisional measures are not only precautionary in nature, in the sense that they preserve a legal situation, but also fundamentally protective, because they protect human rights inasmuch as they seek to avoid irreparable damage to persons. Provisional measures are to remain effective as long as the basic requirements of 2 The following persons appeared at this hearing: a) for the Inter-American Commission: Karla Quintana Osuna and Silvia Serrano Guzmán, Advisors; b) for the representatives of the beneficiaries: Santander José Nisperuza Álvarez, Abilio Peña, Danilo Rueda and Andrea Liliana Ávila, and c) for the State of Colombia: Hernando Herrera Vergara, Ambassador of Colombia in Costa Rica; Hernán Ulloa Venegas, Director of the Presidential Program on Human Rights; Juan Carlos Forero, Deputy Attorney General of the Republic; Néstor Armando Novoa, National Director of the Public Prosecutor’s Offices of the Attorney General’s Office; Marlene Barbosa Sedano, Human Rights Coordinator for the Attorney General’s Office; Francisco Javier Echeverri Lara, Director of Human Rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; María Paulina Riveros Dueñas, Director of Human Rights of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice; Pedro Santiago Posada Arango, Director of Indigenous Community Affairs of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice; Elena Ambrosi Turbay, Director of Human Rights of the Ministry of National Defense; Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Arango Alzáte, Coordinator of the Human Rights Group of the National Police; Tomás Concha, Coordinator of the Presidential Human Rights Program; Diana Patricia Ávila Rubiano, Coordinator of the Working Group on Issues of Protection and Information on Human Rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Luz Stella Bejarano, Coordinator of Defense before International Courts of the Ministry of National Defense; César Augusto Vergara, Coordinator of the Human Rights Group of the Presidential Agency for Social Action and International Cooperation; Juan Manuel Bravo Coral, Leader of the Public Policy Formulation on Human Rights of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice; Diana Izquierdo, Advisor the Department of Human Rights of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice; Alejandra Poveda Torres, Advisor with the Department of Human Rights of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice, and María Paula Ordóñez and Jennifer Mojica, Advisors with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. 3 Rules of Procedure of the Court approved in its LXXXV Regular Period of Sessions, held on November 16-28, 2009. 2