President of the Republic, Carlos Saúl Menem, issued Decree No. 1025/96 authorizing the Office of the Attorney General for the Treasury to assume the defense of the National State in that trial. The third, fourth, and fifth preambular clauses of that decree established60: That the plaintiffs recognize implicitly, based on the documentary proof they attach, that the procedure of which they were victims was carried out by joint forces of the Uruguayan and Argentine armies. That the father of the minors may have been transferred to the Oriental Republic of Uruguay and been detained at the Military Establishment for Imprisonment No. 1 “Libertad” (Establecimiento Militar de Reclusión No. 1 “Libertad”). That mindful of the connotations of this action, which may require summonsing as a third party a foreign State (the Oriental Republic of Uruguay) and, fundamentally because of the connectedness with other cases in which, in due course, the defense of the National State has been entrusted to the Office of the Attorney General for the Treasury, one should adopt the same criterion in this case, so as to provide a better defense for the National State and thereby put forward a uniform position. 74. On September 26, 1996 Mr. Marques Iraola, petitioner and representative of the Larrabeiti Yáñez siblings in the civil action, sent a communication to President Menem requesting “all serious information that exists, so to attempt, if possible, to locate [Mario Julien] alive, or [to determine] what actually came of him according to the version of the decree.”61 As that communication met with no response, on August 15, 1997, Mr. Marques Iraola sent a communication to the Minister of Interior Carlos V. Corach requesting a “concrete, well-founded, and detailed explanation of said fourth preambular paragraph of Decree No. 1025/96, to allow [his] clients to learn about the fate of their biological parents (even though with respect to their mother the decree is ominously silent), even if it is no more than to pursue the multiple inquiries attempted without success, and at least find out more about what happened to them, and try to locate their remains.”62 In addition, the Larrabeiti Yáñez siblings brought a writ of habeas corpus that was rejected, and then appealed to the Supreme Court, without success (Case M 1,981/96).63 75. On September 3, 1997 the Office of the Undersecretary for Human and Social Rights of the Ministry of Interior sent a communication to Mr. Marques Iraola indicating that the only information at the Ministry was in the CONADEP archive, and that “the fourth preambular paragraph of decree 1025/96 establishes a hypothesis that in no way is borne out, as appears clearly from the decree itself.”64 1. Case No. 24,518/98 76. On August 26, 1998, the Larrabeiti Yáñez siblings brought a civil action against the Ministry of Interior “for the damages suffered, primarily moral damages, for the unexpected and vital hope that their father might be found alive, and possibly their mother as well,”65 sparked by the fourth preambular paragraph of Decree 1025/96 (case captioned “Larrabeiti Yáñez, Anatole Alejandro and one other v. National State (Ministry of the Interior) re/damages,” Case 24,518/98). That action was rejected on August 13, 2003, because the judge Annex XX. Decree of the Federal Executive Branch No. 1025/96 of September 6, 1996, published in the Official Bulletin. Annex 2 of the initial petition of November 11, 2005. 61 Annex XX. Registered letter of September 26, 1996 to the President of the Republic Dr. Carlos Saúl Menem, p. 2. Annex 3 of the initial petition of November 11, 2005. 62 Annex XX. Registered letter of August 15, 1997 to the Minister of Interior Dr. Carlos V. Corach, p. 2. Annex 4 of the initial petition of November 11, 2005. 63 Annex XX. Judgment of the Second Chamber of the National Court of Appeals for Federal Contentious-Administrative Matters, Case 24,518/98 “Larrabeiti Yáñez Anatole Alejandro and one other v. State-Interior re/Damages” of November 16, 2004, p. 3. Annex 11 of the initial petition of November 11, 2005. 64 Annex XX. Ministry of Interior. Communication from Ms. Alicia B. Pierini of September 3, 1997, p. 1. Annex 5 of the initial petition of November 11, 2005. 65 Annex XX. Judgment of the Second Chamber of the National Court of Appeals for Federal Contentious-Administrative Matters, Case 24,518/98 “Larrabeiti Yáñez Anatole Alejandro and one other v. State-Interior re/Damages” of June 22, 2004, p. 1. Annex 7 of the initial petition of November 11, 2005. 60