9. The petitioners further alleged that the Uruguayan State had incurred in the violation of a number of articles of the American Convention on Human Rights following April 19, 1985, the date on which Uruguay ratified the American Convention on Human Rights. In this line of thinking, the petitioners also alleged that following April 2, 1996, the Uruguayan State violated a number of articles of the Forced Disappearance Convention and following November 10, 1992, it violated articles of the Torture Convention. 2 Specifically, the petitioners alleged that the facts of the case comprise the following violations: a) -the right to due process and judicial protection of the victims (Articles 1(1), 2, 8(1) and 25 of the American Convention and Articles I (b), III, IV, V and XII of the Forced Disappearance Convention) and Articles 1, 6, 8 and 11 of the Torture Convention; b) -the right to truth (Articles 1(1), 8, 13 and 25 of the American Convention); c) -the general obligation to investigate violations of human rights and to sanction them (Articles 1(1), 4, 5 and 7 of the American Convention; Articles 6 and 8 of the Torture Convention and Articles I (b), III and VI of the Forced Disappearance Convention; d) -the right to the personal integrity of Mr. Juan Gelman, his family and of Maria Macarena Gelman (Articles 1(1) and 5(1) of the American Convention); and e) -the right to special measures of protection for children, the recognition of juridical personality, to the protection of honor and dignity, to a name and the protection of the family as regards Mr. Juan Gelman and his family and of Maria Macarena Gelman (Articles 1(1), 3, 11, 17, 17 and 19 of the American Convention and Article XII of the Forced Disappearance Convention). 10. The petitioners alleged that these events occurred in the context of a military dictatorship. On June 27, 1973, the military seized power in Uruguay by means of a coup d’état, which was carried out under the constitutional cover provided by the elected President, Juan María Bordaberry. The dictatorship perpetuated itself in power until 1985 and during this period there were illegal detentions, generalized torture, assassinations and disappearances of more than a hundred individuals. In 1976 it was calculated that the State was holding more than 6,000 political prisoners. Many human rights organizations, including the Commission, in its report published in 1978, documented the violations of human rights being committed by the State during this period.3 In its 1978 Annual Report, the Commission commented on complaints that it had received regarding the cooperation among armed forces in different countries in the southern cone.4 11. According to the petitioner, the “Archive of Terror”, discovered in Paraguay, revealed the extent of the cooperation and collaboration of military governments in the Southern Cone against their supposed enemies.5 Despite the cooperation of military governments in the events set forth in this case, the petitioners charge only Uruguay with purported international responsibility. 12. On August 24, 1976, Maria Claudia Gelman, approximately seven months pregnant, was kidnapped with her husband Marcelo Ariel Gelman and her sister in law, Maria E. Cassinelli de García Iruretegoyena, by members of the security forces who broke into their residence in the 2 Uruguay ratified the Forced Disappearances Convention on April 2, 1996 and the Inter-American Torture Convention on November 10, 1992. 3 CIDH, REPORT ON THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN URUGUAY, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.43 doc. 19 corr.1, 31 January 1978. 4 See, COOPERATION WITH THE SECURITY FORCES OF OTHER COUNTRIES in section IV, Uruguay, of the ANNUAL REPORT OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, 1978, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.47 Doc.13, rev. 1, 29 June 1979 (“The Commission has received several denunciations of alleged operations of a specialized police force in Uruguay in foreign countries, apparently with the authorization and alleged participation of the foreign authorities. According to these denunciations, the purpose of these operations is to suppress any form or manifestation of opposition to the military government of Uruguay and to eliminate any person suspected of such opposition.”) 5 In October 1975, the Directorate of National Intelligence (DINA) of Chile organized the First Working Meeting of National Intelligence with a view to creating an information mechanism at the regional level. In October 1975, the XI Conference of American Armies was held in Montevideo and in November the First Inter-American Meeting of National Intelligence was held in Santiago. The petitioners claim that the militaries of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru and Ecuador collaborated, initially in the creation of a centralized data base in order to exchange and update information regarding those persons who could be considered enemies or supposed threats to the established regimes, --a classification which included militants and groups that opted for armed struggle or leaders of traditional political parties to any conscientious objector, friend or relative In early 1975, well known political leaders and other anonymous militants sought refuge in Buenos Aires. In 1976 Zelmar Michelini and Hector Gutierrez Ruiz, two well known Uruguayan politicians were assassinated in Buenos Aires, as well as two members of the Tupamaros militant organization who were living in Argentina. 3