6 appeals court and therefore confined itself to ruling that the decision had not been agreed to unanimously. IV PROCEEDINGS IN THE REPARATIONS PHASE 25. Because the parties had not reached agreement, and in compliance with operative paragraph 4 of its judgment of February 2, 1996, the Court decided to open the proceedings on reparations and compensation and empowered its President to take the necessary procedural measures. By that authority, the President of the Court, in a February 5, 1997 order, gave the Commission and the victims’ families until April 7, 1997, to submit their briefs and any evidence that might be relevant in determining reparations and compensation. It also gave Argentina until June 7, 1997, to formulate its observations on the submissions of the Commission and of the victims’ families. 26. On March 11, 1997, the Commission informed the Court that it was confirming "its agreement with the June 25, 1996 decision of the arbitral tribunal, which assessed the indemnification for the families of Mr. Garrido and Mr. Baigorria on the basis of the circumstances of the instant case and the points in the agreement concluded to settle it." 27. On April 7, 1997, the Court received the brief from the victims’ families setting forth their case and ending with the following summation: … the Government of the Argentine Republic must formally undertake to make the following non-pecuniary reparations and to pay, in full, the indemnification stated below: 1. A bill must be introduced in the National Congress that typifies the forced disappearance of persons as a crime, following the criteria established in the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, approved by Law No. 24.556. It should be a federal offense. 2. The National State must acknowledge the content of the report of the ad hoc Commission as the historic truth of the events that transpired in Mendoza on April 28, 1990, which led to these proceedings. 3. The State must issue the full text of the report of the ad hoc Commission in an official publication and have a summary thereof published in four major newspapers with international circulations (The New York Times, Le Monde, El País and Corriere della Sera), four newspapers with domestic circulations (Clarín, La Nación, Página/12 and either Ámbito Financiero o La Razón) and in two provincial newspapers (Los Andes and Uno). It must be accompanied by the appropriate apologies to the victims’ families and to all citizens, and by a pledge from the State that events like these will [sic] recur. 4. With funds from the national budget, a plaque must be made and placed in the entrance hall of the Mendoza Federal Courthouse, containing a brief explanation of the events, the State’s acknowledgment of its responsibility and the results of the international proceedings, apologies to family and citizenry and a pledge that such events will never recur. 5. Steps must be taken for immediate payment of compensatory material and moral damages, which is SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED FIFTY UNITED STATES DOLLARS (US$700,250.00) for the next of kin of ADOLFO GARRIDO, and SEVEN HUNDRED NINETEEN THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY UNITED STATES DOLLARS (US$719,750.00) [for the next of kin of RAÚL BAIGORRIA]. This brings the sum total to ONE MILLION FOUR HUNDRED TWENTY THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS (US$1,420,000.00).