included in that report. 2 This Court notes with concern that more than 18 years elapsed between the presentation of the initial petition before the Commission and the submission of this case to the Court. II PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COURT 5. Notification to the State and to the representative of the alleged victims. The State and the representatives were notified of the submission of the case on July 19, 2021. 3 6. Brief with pleadings, motions and evidence. On September 19, 2021, the representatives filed their brief of pleadings, motions and evidence. The representatives were in substantial agreement with the Commission. 7. Suspension of procedural deadlines. On November 19, 2021 the State reported an "agreement between the parties to launch a dialogue process" toward reaching a friendly settlement agreement based on which both parties requested "to suspend the litigation deadline." This request was granted on the same day. Subsequently, the State submitted similar information and requests on January 11 and February 11, 2022. 4 On the latter date, the representatives communicated that they were joining the State's request. Each of the these requests was granted. The procedural deadlines remained suspended between November 19, 2021, and April 11, 2022. 8. Friendly settlement agreement. On April 11, 2022, the State communicated that the parties had reached a friendly settlement agreement (hereinafter also "the agreement"), to be signed formally at a later date. 5 On July 13, 2022, the State reported that the friendly settlement agreement had been signed on June 14, 2022, and forwarded the text of the agreement. 6 On September 22, 2022 (infra para. 10) the In the Report on the Merits, the Commission issued the following recommendations: (1) make full reparation for the human rights violations declared in this report, including fair compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage; (2) provide physical and mental health care for the families of the victims who were extrajudicially executed; (3) carry out a full and effective investigation of the human rights violations declared; and (4) order a number of mechanisms to avoid repetition of the violations. 2 3 The State appointed attorney María Fernanda Álvarez as principal agent, and attorney Alonso Fonseca and attorney María Fernanda Narváez as alternates. The victims are represented by the following "legal professionals “: Héctor Bolívar Villagrán Lara, Héctor Enrique Villagrán Cepeda and Leonidas Humberto Villagrán Cepeda. 4 In filings on November 19, 2021, and January 11, 2022, the State submitted documentation signed by representatives of both parties requesting or consenting to suspension of the deadlines. 5 On April 18, 2022 the Office of the Registrar instructed the State that, should the agreement be signed, a copy of the duly signed agreement should be sent to the Court. On May 12, 2022 the Office of the Registrar asked the State to forward a duly-signed copy of the friendly settlement agreement to the Court by May 23, 2022, or, failing that, the pertinent explanations. On May 20, 2022 the State reported that because of a change in government, the agreement had yet to be signed, but that the corresponding procedures would be undertaken as soon as possible. On June 29, 2022, the Office of the Registrar asked that should the friendly settlement agreement be signed, it be submitted to the Court no later than July 14, 2022. 6 The record shows that the agreement, signed by both parties, was submitted to the Court by the State on July 13, 2022. A communication from the Office of the Registrar of the Court dated July 14, 2022, gave the representatives until July 28, 2022, to submit any comments they deemed pertinent. On August 3, 2022, the representatives were informed that the deadline for submitting their comments had been extended until August 11, 2022. In a communication from the Office of the Registrar dated August 16, 2022, the representatives were informed that they had been granted a “final” deadline of August 29, 2022, to offer any comments they might deem appropriate. The communication indicated that, “[i]n the absence of any 4