4 acts of harassment and aggression against them.” Similarly, it rejected “the argument used by the representatives that the impunity of the Kawas case generated a context of violence against environmentalists, and that the State did not take effective measures of prevention and investigation, aggravated by the lack of due diligence of the agents of justice, which contributed to a climate of impunity.” The State appointed Ángel David Reyes-Paz, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Honduras, as Agent, and Ambassador Roberto RamosBustos, Director General of Special Affairs of the Secretariat of State of the Republic of Honduras as Deputy Agent. II PROCEEDING BEFORE THE COURT 9. The Commission’s application was notified to the State and the representatives on March 7, 2008. During the proceedings before the Court, in addition to the presentation of the principal briefs forwarded by the parties (supra paras. 1 to 8), the President of the Court (hereinafter, “the President”) ordered that the testimony of seven witnesses and two expert witnesses offered, at the opportune time, by the Commission, the representatives and the State, should be received by means of statements made before notary public (affidavits); the parties were given the opportunity to submit their observations on these statements.3 In addition, the President convened the Commission, the representatives and the State to a public hearing to receive the testimony of two witnesses and an expert witness, as well as the final oral arguments of the parties on the Merits, reparations, and costs. 10. The public hearing was held on December 2, 2008, during the XXXVII Special Period of Sessions of the Court, held in Mexico City, United Mexican States.4 At the conclusion of this hearing the judges asked the State and the representatives to submit complementary information with their final written arguments. 11. On January 13, 2009, on the instructions of the President of the Court, the representatives were asked to submit specific helpful evidence,5 which was received on January 29 and 30, 2009. 12. On January 20, 2009, the Commission, the representatives and the State forwarded their respective final written arguments. Both the representatives and the State attached some documentary evidence to their briefs (infra, para. 41). 13. On March 25, 2009, the Environmental Defense Law Center filed an amicus curiae brief. III JURISDICTION 3 Cf. Order of the President of the Court of October 7, 2008. 4 There appeared at this hearing: (a) for the Inter-American Commission: Juan Pablo Albán, Isabel Madariaga and Lilly Ching; (b) for the representatives of the alleged victims: Viviana Krsticevic, Soraya Long, Gisela de León, Marcia Aguiluz, Vanessa Coria, Blanca Araceli and Lucy Mendoza-Díaz; and (c) for the State: Ángel David Reyes (Agent), Roberto Ramos-Bustos (Deputy Agent), Rosalinda Bueno-Fura (Honduran Ambassador to Mexico), Hugo Alberto Soaso, María Luisa Ramos-Matute, Mariela Castañeda, Fernando Griffin, Carolina Pineda and Germán Silvestrucci-Santos, all lawyers. 5 The evidence requested consisted of the birth and death certificates of Mrs. Blanca Jeannette KawasFernández.