7 V PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS A. Arguments of the parties and of the Commission 20. Regarding the determination of the victims, in Report No. 76/17 the Commission indicated that the alleged victims are Roberto Girón and Pedro Castillo Mendoza. 21. In their pleadings and motions brief, the representatives indicated that, in addition to Roberto Girón and Pedro Castillo Mendoza, other alleged victims should be recognized and that these were the next of kin of Mr. Castillo Mendoza, namely: Emilio Castillo Gómez (father, deceased), Blanca Delia Castillo Mendoza (sister, deceased), Dora Alicia Castillo Mendoza (sister), Berta Lidia Mendoza (sister) and Oscar Castillo Mendoza (brother). They added that, at the time they submitted the pleadings and motions brief, they had been unable to locate any members of Roberto Girón’s family (see footnote 131 infra). 22. The State indicated that it “did not call into question the capacity of the petitioners to ask that the next of kin of Messrs. Girón and Castillo Mendoza be considered alleged victims, [but it considered that if the] Court ruled to provide financial redress to the next of kin of the perpetrators of a crime that shocked Guatemalan society, it would be encouraging a resurgence of the debate on whether or not the application of the death penalty in the country was admissible.” B. Considerations of the Court 23. Regarding the identification of the alleged victims, the Court recalls that Article 35(1) of its Rules of Procedure establish that the case will be submitted by the presentation of the Merits Report which must include the identification of the alleged victims. Thus it corresponds to the Commission to identify the alleged victims in a case before the Court precisely and at the appropriate procedural moment,8 subject to the exceptional circumstances contemplated in Article 35(2) of the Court’s Rules of Procedure according to which, when it has been justified that it was not possible to identify them because the case involves massive or collective violations, the Court will decide whether to consider those individuals as victims, at the appropriate time, based on the nature of the violation.9 24. In the instant case, none of the exceptions established in Article 35(2) of the Court’s Rules of Procedure are present. Therefore, pursuant to the provisions of Article 35(1) of the Rules of Procedure and the relevant precedents in which this Court has ruled in this regard, the Court concludes that it is not appropriate to consider the next of kin of either Pedro Castillo Mendoza or Roberto Girón as alleged victims. VI EVIDENCE A. Admission of documentary evidence 8 Cf. Case of the Ituango Massacres v. Colombia. Preliminary objection, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of July 1, 2006. Series C No. 148, para. 98, and Case of Gorigoitía v. Argentina, supra, para. 25. 9 Cf. Case of the Río Negro Massacres v. Guatemala. Preliminary objection, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of September 4, 2012. Series C No. 250, para. 48, and Case of Gorigoitía v. Argentina, supra, para. 25.