INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS CASE OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER et al. v. GUATEMALA * JUDGMENT OF AUGUST 28, 2014 (Preliminary objections, merits, reparations and costs) In the case of Human Rights Defender et al., the Inter-American Court of Human rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Court” or “the ** Court”), composed of the following judges: Humberto Antonio Sierra Porto, President; Roberto F. Caldas, Vice-President; Manuel E. Ventura Robles, Judge; Eduardo Vio Grossi, Judge, and Eduardo Ferrer Mac-Gregor Poisot, Judge; also present, Pablo Saavedra Alessandri, Secretary, and Emilia Segares Rodríguez, Deputy Secretary, in accordance with Articles 62(3) and 63(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter “the American Convention” or “the Convention”) and Articles 31, 32, 42, 65 and 67 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure (hereinafter “the Rules”), delivers this Judgment, which is structured as follows: * The Inter-American Court ordered the names of the presumed victims in this case to be kept confidential, at their own request. Consequently, the Court has prepared two versions of this Judgment: an original for the purposes of notification of the parties and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and another with the victims’ initials for publication purposes. The Court has taken the necessary steps to ensure that the identities of the persons mentioned remain confidential. By decision of this Court, the Judgment in this case was issued under the title Human Rights Defender et al. v. Guatemala. ** Judges Diego García-Sayán and Alberto Pérez excused themselves from the deliberation of this Judgment; the former presented his excuses, and the latter did not participate for reasons of force majeure.