received the statements of two presumed victims, the testimony of two witnesses, and the expert opinions of three expert witnesses, as well as the final oral arguments and observations of the parties and of the Inter-American Commission.20 Also during the hearing, the Court asked the parties and the Commission to submit specific helpful information. 16. Request for helpful evidence and explanations. On June 10, 2013, on the instructions of the President, the State and the Commission were asked to submit specific helpful documentation, information and explanations.21 17. Amici curiae briefs. Under Article 44 (Amicus curiae presentations) of the Court’s Rules of Procedure, the following five amici curiae briefs were presented: (i) on March 2, 2012, the lawyer Vicente Laureano Bárzana Yutronic presented a brief; (ii) on May 24, 2012, Minority Rights Group International presented a brief;22 (iii) on June 14, 2013, the Human Rights Center of the Universidad Diego Portales presented a brief;23 (iv) on June 14, 2013, Claudia Gutiérrez Olivares, Professor of Ethics and Political Philosophy of the Universidad de Chile, presented a brief, and (v) on June 14, 2013, Osvaldo Javier Solís Mansilla, lawyer and researcher, presented a brief. 18. Final written arguments and observations, and helpful evidence and explanations. On June 28 and 29, 2013, the common interveners forwarded their final written arguments24 and presented the information requested by the Court during the public hearings as helpful evidence, together with information on costs and expenses.25 On June 28, 2013, the State presented its final written arguments, and included its answer to the request for helpful information and evidence, and on July 10, it presented some of the documents requested. On June 30, 2013, the Inter-American Commission presented its final written observations. On August 16, 2013, the Commission responded to the request for helpful explanations and clarifications made by the Court and its President. On August 16, September 6, 16, 23 and 27, and October 17 and 23, 2013, in response to the requests of the Court or its President, the 20 The recording of the public hearing held on May 29 and 30, 2013, is available at: https://vimeo.com/album/2409874 21 The Inter-American Commission was asked to clarify whether the copy of the judicial case files in the proceedings before the domestic courts against Segundo Aniceto Norín Catrimán and Pascual Huentequeo Pichún Paillalao and Patricia Roxana Troncoso and against José Benicio Huenchunao Mariñán, Juan Ciriaco Millacheo Licán, Florencio Jaime Marileo Saravia, Juan Patricio Marileo Saravia and Patricia Roxana Troncoso Robles, provided in the file of the proceedings before the Commission (appendix 1), included all the files that the State had listed and forwarded to the Commission under a note of November 3, 2008, and, if necessary, to provide a complete copy of this documentation. The State was asked, inter alia: (a) for a complete copy of the case files of the criminal proceedings against seven of the presumed victims; (b) regarding the case file of the proceedings against Víctor Manuel Ancalaf Llaupe, to review the copy of the confidential case records provided by the Commission and, if any part of the case file is missing, to provide a complete copy; (c) to provide a complete copy of certain documents corresponding to the said proceedings; (d) to provide certain documents and explanations in relation to the measures taken to conceal the identity of witnesses in the criminal proceedings held against Segundo Aniceto Norín Catrimán, Pascual Huentequeo Pichún Paillalao and Patricia Roxana Troncoso Robles, and against Víctor Manuel Ancalaf Llaupe; (e) to provide a copy of some of Chile’s domestic laws; (f) to provide certifications that confirm the time that the presumed victims in this case were held in pre-trial detention and the total time that they served their prison sentences and also the ancillary penalties, as well as documents that substantiate its indications in the answering brief regarding the “prison benefits.” 22 The brief was presented by Carla Clarke, Head of Law of Minority Rights Group International with the collaboration of Answer Styannes and Javier Dávalos. 23 The brief was presented by Judith Schönsteiner, Director of the Human Rights Center of the Universidad Diego Portales, and Camila de la Maza, lawyer, of the University’s Clinic for Public Interest Litigations. 24 On July 2, 2013, representative Hartog transmitted a brief with final arguments. In a note of the Secretariat of the Court dated July 22, 2013, she was advised that the Court would determine the admissibility of this document at the proper procedural moment. 25 On July 22, 2013, the FIDH presented “the annex of the expenses” it had incurred. 10