6. The observations of the representatives submitted on December 20, 2011, and February 1 and 10, 2012. 7. The observations of the Inter-American Commission of February 17, 2012. 8. The communication of the Secretariat of February 3, 2012, in which it asked the representatives to submit, by February 10, 2012 at the latest, a complementary report with observations on the State’s report received on February 1, 2002. Likewise, the Inter-American Commission was granted an additional period, which expired on February 17, 2012, to submit its observations. In addition, the State was asked to submit its observations concerning the representatives’ request to extend the provisional measures in its next bi-monthly report. CONSIDERING THAT: 1. The Dominican Republic has been a State Party to the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter “the American Convention” or “the Convention”) since April 19 1978 and, in accordance with Article 62 thereof, accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court on March 25, 1999. 2. Article 63.2 of the Convention establishes that, “[i]n cases of extreme gravity and urgency and when necessary to avoid irreparable damage to persons, the Court shall adopt such provisional measures as it deems pertinent, in matters it has under consideration. With respect to a case not yet submitted to the Court, it may act at the request of the Commission.” 3. The provisions of Article 63.2 of the Convention mean that the provisional measures ordered by this Court are compulsory for States, because a basic principle of international law, supported by international jurisprudence, indicates that States must comply with their treaty-based obligations in good faith (pacta sunt servanda).1 4. In this regard, the pertinent part of Article 27 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure (hereinafter “the Rules of Procedure”)2 establishes that: 1. At any stage of proceedings involving cases of extreme gravity and urgency, and when necessary to avoid irreparable damage to persons, the Court may, on its own motion, order such provisional measures as it deems appropriate, pursuant to Article 63.2 of the Convention. 2. With respect to matters not yet submitted to it, the Court may act at the request of the Commission […] 5. Under International Human Rights Law provisional measures are not only preventive in nature, in that they preserve a legal situation, but are also protective, because they protect human rights, inasmuch as they seek to avoid irreparable harm to persons. The measures are applied provided that the basic requirements of extreme gravity and urgency 1 Cf. Matter of James et al. Provisional Measures regarding Trinidad and Tobago. Order of the InterAmerican Court of June 14, 1998, Considering paragraph 6; and Matter of the Socio-educational Internment Unit. Provisional measures regarding Brazil. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, September 1, 2011, Considering paragraph 3. 2 Rules of Procedure of the Court approved at its Eighty-fifth Ordinary Period of Sessions, held from November 16 to 28, 2009. 2