I INTRODUCTION OF THE CASE AND PURPOSE OF THE DISPUTE 1. Submission and synopsis of the case: On February 11, 2011, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Commission” or “the Inter-American Commission”) submitted to the Court, under Articles 51 and 61 of the Convention, case No. 12,688 against the State of the Dominican Republic (hereinafter “the State” or “the Dominican Republic”), based on what it described as “the excessive use of force by soldiers against a group of Haitians, in which seven persons lost their life and several more were injured.” The Commission stated the following: a) “The facts were submitted directly to the military justice system which, after proceedings lasting several years and despite the request of the next of kin of those executed to have the case submitted to the ordinary jurisdiction, acquitted the soldiers who were involved.” b) “Some of the surviving victims suffered violations of their personal liberty and violations of judicial guarantees and judicial protection, because they were expelled from Dominican Republic, without receiving the guarantees due to their condition as migrants.” c) At the domestic level, there has been “a denial of justice since the acts were committed to the detriment of the victims who were executed and the survivors, and due to the consequent impunity.” d) “The facts of this case occurred within a context of more general discrimination against Haitians or persons of Haitians origin in the Dominican Republic, as well as deportations of Haitians from the Dominican Republic.” 2. The Commission asked the Court to declare the violation of Articles 4 (Right to Life), 5 (Right to Humane Treatment) 7 (Right to Personal Liberty), 8 (Judicial Guarantees), 25 (Right to Judicial Protection) and 24 (Equality before the Law) of the Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) thereof. In addition, the Commission requested the Court to order the State to adopt certain measures of reparation. 3. Proceedings before the Commission. The proceedings before the Inter-American Commission were as follows: a) The initial petition was presented on November 28, 2005, by the Grupo de Apoyo a los Repatriados y Refugiados [Support Group for Refugees and Repatriates] (represented by Chérubin Tragelus) and by the Dominican-Haitian Cultural Center (represented by Antonio Pol Emil). On October 23, 2006, the International Clinic for the Defense of Human Rights of the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) (represented by Bernard Duheime and Carol Hilling) were accredited as copetitioners;3 b) On December 22, 2008, the Commission approved Admissibility Report No. 95/08; c) On November 2, 2010, the Commission issued Merits Report No. 174/10, under Article 50 of the American Convention (hereinafter “Merits Report”). In this report, the Commission concluded that Dominican Republic was responsible for the violation of the rights to life, personal integrity, personal liberty, non-discrimination, 3 These three persons will hereafter be referred to as “the representatives.” 4