the Commission presented, respectively, their observations on the preliminary objection presented by the State. 9. Public Hearing. In an order dated April 28, 2021, 6 the President of the Court called the State, the representatives and the Inter-American Commission to a public hearing to receive their final oral arguments and observations, respectively, on the preliminary objection and possible merits, reparations and costs, and to receive the statements of three alleged victims, an expert witness proposed by the representatives and an expert witness proposed by the Commission. The public hearing was held on June 9 and 10, 2021, during the 142nd regular session of the Court, which took place via a videoconferencing platform. 7 10. Amici curiae. The Court received six amicus curiae briefs presented by: 1) researchers of the International Human Rights Practicum of Boston College Law School 8; 2) the Observatorio Latinoamericano de Regulación de Medios y Convergencia (Latin American Observatory of Media Regulation and Convergence) and the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters; 9 3) Asociación Latinoamericana de Investigadores de la Comunicación (Latin American Association of Communication Researchers); 10 4) José Ignacio Hernández G; 11 5) the Human Rights Group of the Externado University of Colombia, 12 and 6) Bufete para Pueblos Indígenas (Indigenous Peoples’ Law Firm). 13 6 Cf. Case of the Maya Kaqchikel Indigenous Peoples of Sumpango et al. v. Guatemala. Call to a Public Hearing. Order of the President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of April 28, 2021. Available at: http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/asuntos/pueblos_indigenas_maya_kaqchikel_de_sumpango_y_otros 28_04_21.pdf. 7 The following appeared at the hearing: a) for the Inter-American Commission: Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño, Commissioner; Pedro José Vaca Villarreal, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression; Marisol Blanchard, Assistant Executive Secretary of the Commission; Erick Acuña and Cecilia La Hoz, advisers of the Commission; b) for the representatives: Nicole Friederichs, Amy Van Zyl-Chavarro, Cristian Oztín and Julian Bal, and c) for the State: Jorge Luis Donado Vivar, Attorney General of the Nation, Head of Delegation; Diego Montenegro, Undersecretary General of the Presidency, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic; Ana Isabel Carrillo Fabián, Director General of International Multilateral and Economic Affairs, Head of Delegation; Sandra Noriega, Ambassador of Guatemala in Costa Rica; Lilian Elizabeth Nájera Reyes, alternate agent of the State, Attorney General’s Office; María Gabriela Hernández Siguantay, alternate agent of the State, Attorney General’s Office; Maria José del Águila Castillo, Director of Human Rights, Ministry of Foreign Relations; Walter Estuardo Beltrán Sandoval, Director of Human Rights Monitoring and Promotion, Presidential Commission for Peace and Human Rights; Verónica Elizabeth Jiménez Tovar, Deputy Director of Human Rights, Ministry of Foreign Relations; Yessenia Yasmín González Gudiel, Attorney General’s Office, and María Denise Ralda Quinto, First Secretary of the Human Rights Unit, Ministry of Foreign Relations. 8 The brief was signed by Daniela Urosa, Olivia Bender, Laura Noerdlinger and Sarah McWhirter and describes the alleged discrimination suffered by indigenous communities; freedom of expression as a collective right, and the alleged indirect discrimination caused by the lack of legislation to regulate community radio stations. 9 The brief was signed by Gustavo Gómez, Mónica Valdez, Javier García, Oscar Pérez and Damián Miguel Loreti, and discusses applicable legal standards related to freedom of expression and broadcasting, as well as regulations related to community radio stations. 10 The brief was signed by Tanius Karam and Gabriel Kaplún, and contains a factual and legal analysis of the alleged violations committed by the State of Guatemala against the Maya Kaqchikel indigenous peoples of Sumpango; Achí of San Miguel Chicaj; Mam of Cajolá, and Mam of Todos Santos Cuchumatán. It also describes the structural context of community radio stations in Guatemala. 11 The brief was signed by José Ignacio Hernández G., and describes the economic basis and legal principles that regulate the intervention administrative on the radio spectrum and how the legal-administrative system of the radio spectrum should be adapted to the general principles of the inter-American corpus iuris. 12 The brief was signed by María Daniela Díaz Villamil, Marianna Peña Rozo, Natalia Andrea Cañaveral Pedraza, Thalía Romero Pinilla and Luisa Fernanda Ballesteros Guerrero, and refers to the right of indigenous communities to have access to the electromagnetic and radio spectrum without discrimination, and the legislation and praxis of other States in the region. 13 The brief was signed by Juan Castro. It contains data and arguments concerning the alleged context of marginalization, discrimination and exclusion of indigenous peoples in Guatemala; the role of community radio stations and the need to recognize them; the Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples; an outline of the problem; the auction as an unfair mechanism; implications of the lack of regulation and the Constitutional Court’s exhortation to the Guatemalan Congress; and proposed legislation presented before Congress and applicable international standards. -5-