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The Commission has designated Commissioner Dinah Shelton and the Executive
Secretary Santiago Canton as its delegate Likewise, Elizabeth Abi-Mershed, Deputy
Executive Secretary, Karla I. Quintana Osuna, Isabel Madariaga and Fiorella Melzi will
serve as legal advisors.
In accordance with Article 35 of the Rules of Procedure of the Inter-American
Court, the Commission is enclosing a copy of Report 170/11, prepared in compliance
with Article 50 of the American Convention, as well as a copy of the entire file before the
Inter-American Commission (Appendix I), and the annexes used in drafting Report
170/11 (Annexes). Said report was notified to the State by means of communication of
January 3, 2012, granting it a period of two months to report on the implementation of
the recommendations. On March 13, 2012, the State presented a report on the progress
of the recommendations and asked the Commission to grant an extension of one month
to comply with them. ON March 23, 2012 the State sent a note by which expressly
waived any claim the period specified in Article 51.1 of the American Convention to the
Court for the purposes of a possible referral to the Court. The Commission granted the
extension of one month, and asked the State to submit a report on compliance with
recommendations on March 25, 2012. Guatemala did not submit its report.
On May 2, 2012, the petitioners informed the Commission that on March 30,
2012 the State had proposed Mrs. Franco Sandoval to sign a friendly settlement. The
petitioners replied to it on April 19, 2012, highlighting that "broadly speaking, that note
raises no specific proposal to implement the recommendations of the Honorable
Commission” and that according to the “considerable delay in justice” the petitioners did
not consider appropriate to sign an agreement to comply with recommendation.
In its answer to the Merit report, the State presented information in relation to the
process of investigation of the facts around the victim’s death and relating to the
obligation of the State to address cases of violence against women in general, its
institutional strengthening to fight impunity in the face of cases of violence against
women, and the conduct of effective criminal investigations with a gender perspective.
In addition, it reported that it has implemented a comprehensive and coordinated state
policy with adequate public resources to ensure that such cases are adequately
prevented, investigated, and punished, and that reparations are made.
As regards the investigation into the facts of the case – the first recommendation
– the State reported on several measures related to: reiterating the request for DNA
testing of a prosecuted person, as well as the compilation of data and reports related to
him, and three other persons linked to the investigation. In addition, it reported that the
autopsy of María Isabel Véliz Franco was expanded upon. Finally, it state that the
Public Ministry had stated that the instant case “has continued to be investigated on an
ongoing basis, and that the procedural law does not stipulate any time period for
completing investigative steps, thus it will continue to be open to conduct the necessary
investigations.
Without specifying to which recommendation it was making reference, Guatemala
presented general information on public policies that could refer generically to the third,
sixth, seventh, and eighth recommendations. In this regard it reported as follows: (i)
creation of the working group called specialized task force against femicide in January
2012, aimed at analyzing the lines of investigation in crimes of femicide; (ii) expansion of
the budget of the Presidential Commission against femicides in February 2012 to
strengthen the actions of that Commission in the prevention of the assassination of