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Commission withdrew the opinion by affidavit of one proposed expert witness on October 30,
2017. In addition, in the said order, the President called on five presumed victims, one deponent
for information purposes, and one expert witness to provide their testimony during the public
hearing. The public hearing took place on November 16 and 17, 2017, during the 120 th regular
session of the Court, held at its seat. 8 During this hearing, the Court’s judges asked the parties
and the Commission to provide certain information and explanations.
11. Amicus curiae. The Court received 16 amicus curiae briefs submitted by: 1) Women's Link
Worldwide;9 2) Silvina Álvarez Medina, professor, Department of Public Law and Legal Philosophy
at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and Tania Sordo Ruz, lawyer specialized in violence
against women and discrimination;10 3) the Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF);11 4) ARTICLE
19, Office for Mexico and Central America;12 5) FUNDAR, Centro de Análisis e Investigación;13 6)
ELEMENTA, Consultoría en Derechos;14 7) the Human Rights Program and the Gender Affairs
Program at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, and Concordia, Consultoría en Derechos
Humanos15; 8) the Centro de Estudios Legales and Sociales (CELS);16 9) the Washington Office on
At this hearing, there appeared: (a) for the Inter-American Commission: Margarette May Macaulay, First Vice
President of the Inter-American Commission; Elizabeth Abi-Mershed, Deputy Executive Secretary, and Silvia Serrano
Guzmán, Legal Adviser; (b) for the representatives of the presumed victims: from Center Prodh: Stephanie Erin Brewer,
Araceli Olivos Portugal, Mario Ernesto Patrón Sánchez, and Sofía de Robina Castro; from CEJIL: Marcela Martino, Florencia
Reggiardo, Gisela De León, Marcia Aguiluz, and Francisca Stuardo; (c) for the Mexican State: Miguel Ruíz Cabañas
Izquierdo, Under-Secretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Melquíades Morales
Flores, Mexican Ambassador to Costa Rica; Erasmo Alonso Lara Cabrera, Director General for Human Rights and
Democracy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Alejando Jaime Gómez Sánchez, Prosecutor General of the state of Mexico;
Germán Castillo Banuet, Chief Prosecutor of the state of Mexico; Luis Francisco Fierro Sosa, Head of the Human Rights
Unit of the Office of the Prosecutor General of the state of Mexico; Patricia Colchero, Head of the Unit for the Defense of
Human Rights of the Ministry of the Interior; María Isabel Sánchez Holguín, Head of the Executive Commission for Victims’
Support of the state of Mexico; Rosalinda Salinas, Deputy Director General of the Unit for the Defense of Human Rights of
the Ministry of the Interior; Miriam Heredia, Deputy Director General for International Affairs of the Office of the Attorney
General of the Republic; Norma Elvia Trejo Luna, Agent of the Public Prosecution Service of the state of Mexico; Carlos
Uriel Salas Segovia, Director of the Cases Department, of the Human Rights and Democracy General Directorate of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Karla Victoria Jones Anaya, Director of International Law of the Legal Adviser’s Office of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs; José Ignacio Michaus Fernández, Department Head of the Human Rights and Democracy
General Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Óscar Francisco Holguín González, Responsible for legal, political
and media affairs at the Mexican Embassy in Costa Rica.
8
The brief, signed by Carmen Cecilia Martínez López, Cristina Rosero Arteaga e Isabel Barbosa, refers to the Mexican
national context and background, institutional violence against women, the intersectional nature of the multiple factors of
vulnerability, sexual violence as a form of torture, and the obligation of due diligence.
9
The brief refers to gender stereotypes, their analysis under the European, inter-American and universal system, and
the extent of gender stereotyping in this case.
10
The brief, signed by Katya Salazar as Executive Director, refers to the sexual violence and torture suffered by the
victims and the obligation to investigate, prosecute and punish those responsible.
11
The brief, signed by Ana Cristina Ruelas Serna as Regional Director, refers to international standards in relation to
protests and the use of force, and the problems and patterns that have been documented with regard to protests in
Mexico.
12
The brief, signed by Haydeé M. Pérez Garrido as Executive Director, relates to the perpetration of serious human
rights violations owing to the inadequate use of law enforcement personnel in situations of social conflict in Mexico.
13
The brief, signed by Adriana Muro Polo, Manuela Piza Caballero, Paula Aguirre Ospina, Daniela Parra Álvarez, Laura
Rojas Acosta, María Camila Vega Salazar, Nora Robledo Frías, Ángela Quintero Bohórquez and Mariana Reyes Múnera,
refers to the context of the case in relation to the general situation of the repression of social protest in Mexico and the
situation of gender-based violence in the state of Mexico at the time of the facts, as well as unwarranted use of force and
its differentiated impact on women victims.
14
The brief, signed by Denise González Núñez as Coordinator of the Human Rights Program; Elvia González del Pliego
Dorantes, as Coordinator of the Gender Program, and Renata Demichelis Ávila, as Founding member of Concordia, refers
15