4 5. To order the State to report to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the measures it has taken to comply with the instant Order, no later than October 16, 2003. 6. To order the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to submit its comments on the report by the State to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, within a week of being notified thereof. 7. To order the State, subsequent to its first report (supra operative paragraph five), to continue reporting to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, every two months, on the measures adopted, and to order the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to submit its observations to said reports within six weeks of receiving them. […] CONSIDERING: 1. The State ratified the American Convention on August 9, 1977 and, pursuant to Article 62 of that Convention, it accepted the contentious jurisdiction of the Court on June 24, 1981. 2. Article 63(2) of the American Convention provides 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. Pursuant to Article 25(1) and 25(2) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court, [a]t any stage of the proceedings involving cases of extreme gravity and urgency, and when necessary to avoid irreparable damage to persons, the Court may, at the request of a party or on its own motion, order such provisional measures as it deems pertinent, pursuant to Article 63(2) of the Convention. [w]ith respect to matters not yet submitted to it, the Court may act at the request of the Commission. [...] 4. Article 1(1) of the Convention sets forth the duty of the States party to respect the rights and freedoms recognized in that treaty and to ensure their free and full exercise by all persons subject to their jurisdiction. 5. The background information submitted by the Commission in its application (supra Having Seen 3, 4, 5 and 6) demonstrates prima facie the existence of a situation of extreme gravity and urgency regarding the life, the right to humane treatment, and freedom of expression of Carlos Colmenares, Noé Pernía, and Pedro Nikken, employees of the television broadcast station Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV). 6. The purpose of provisional measures, in the national legal systems (domestic procedural law) in general, is to protect the rights of the parties to a dispute, ensuring that the judgment on the merits does not suffer detriment due to actions by the parties pendente lite.