-5- I INTRODUCTION OF THE CASE AND PURPOSE OF THE DISPUTE 1. The case submitted to the Court. On September 17, 2016, under the provisions of Articles 51 and 61 of the American Convention and Article 35 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure, the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Commission” or “the Commission”) submitted the case of Women Victims of Sexual Torture in Atenco against the United Mexican States (hereinafter “the State,” “the Mexican State” or “Mexico”) to the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court. According to the Commission, the case relates to a series of violations committed against Mariana Selvas Gómez, Georgina Edith Rosales Gutiérrez, María Patricia Romero Hernández, Norma Aidé Jiménez Osorio, Claudia Hernández Martínez 1, Bárbara ltalia Méndez Moreno, Ana María Velasco Rodríguez, Yolanda Muñoz Diosdada, María Cristina Sánchez Hernández, Angélica Patricia Torres Linares and Suhelen Gabriela Cuevas Jaramillo, in the context of their arrest and transfer by police agents in the municipalities of Texcoco and San Salvador Atenco on May 3 and 4, 2006, respectively. The Commission determined that the detention of these eleven women on the days mentioned was illegal and arbitrary; that they had not been informed of the reasons for their arrest or the respective charges, and that this situation persisted when they gave their first statement, without legal assistance. The Commission also determined that the eleven women were victims of different forms of physical, psychological and sexual torture in the course of their arrest, transfer and arrival at the detention center, and that the State failed to comply with its obligation to investigate these facts with due diligence and within a reasonable time. Lastly, the Commission determined that the State had violated the mental and moral integrity of the next of kin of these eleven women. The presumed victims in this case are the eleven women mentioned above and their family groups described in Chapter IX-4 infra. 2. Procedure before the Commission. The procedure before the Commission was as follows: a) Petition. On April 29, 2008, the Centro de los Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez A.C. (PRODH) and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), (hereinafter “the representatives”) lodged the initial petition in representation of the eleven women presumed victims named above. b) Admissibility Report. On November 2, 2011, the Commission adopted Admissibility Report No. 158/11.2 c) Merits Report. On October 28, 2015, the Commission adopted Merits Report No. 74/15, in which it reached a series of conclusions3 and made various recommendations4 to the State. The Court notes that some documents refer to “Claudia Hernández Martínez.” While others refer to “Claudia Hernández García.” The Court also notes that there is no dispute between the parties that both names refer to the same person and it will refer to her as “Claudia Hernández Martínez” because this is the name that appears on the birth certificate presented, in the Commission’s report, and in the brief with motions, pleadings and evidence. 1 2 IACHR, Report No. 158/11, Petition 512-08, Admissibility, Mariana Selvas Gómez et al., Mexico, November 2, 2011. 3 The Commission concluded that the State was responsible for: 1. The violation of the rights to personal liberty and judicial guarantees established in Articles 7(1), 7(2), 7(3), 7(4), 8(2)(b), 8(2)(d) and 8(2)(e) of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) of this instrument, to the detriment of Mariana Selvas Gómez, Georgina Edith Rosales Gutiérrez, María Patricia Romero Hernández, Norma Aidé Jiménez Osorio, Claudia Hernández Martínez, Bárbara Italia Méndez Moreno, Ana María Velasco Rodríguez, Yolanda Muñoz Diosdada, Cristina Sánchez Hernández, Angélica Patricia Torres Linares and Suhelen Gabriela Cuevas Jaramillo.