ORDER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS OF FEBRUARY 21, 2003 ∗ PROVISIONAL MEASURES IN THE MATTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF GUATEMALA BÁMACA VELÁSQUEZ CASE HAVING SEEN: 1. The September 12, 2002 brief filed by the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) (hereinafter “the representatives of the victims” or “the representatives”) in which they reported “on the situation of risk and fear suffered by Efraín Bámaca’s family,” regarding compliance with the judgment in the Bámaca Velásquez case because “recent facts have reactivated fear in Alberta Velásquez’s family; [who] fear that murder and disappearance will happen to them once again to the detriment of their relatives.” 2. The December 13, 2002 brief filed by the representatives of the victims, in which they submitted to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Court” or “the Inter-American Court”), pursuant to Articles 63(2) of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Convention” or “the American Convention”) and 25(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court (hereinafter “the Rules of Procedure”), a request for Provisional Measures in favor of the members of the Bámaca Velásquez family. In said brief, the representatives of the victims made the following requests of the Court: 1. That once it has studied the facts reported in the instant document, the [...] Court decide to adopt such measures as it may deem necessary to ensure the physical safety of the members of the Bámaca Velásquez family. 2. That if it so deems, it order the State of Guatemala to adopt urgent measures to ensure immediate protection of the members of the Bámaca Velásquez family recognized in the February 22, 2002 judgment on reparations, as well as their children and close relatives. 3. The grounds for the request for Provisional Measures (supra Having Seen 2) by the representatives of the victims, based on the following facts: a. that on September 11, 2002 CEJIL sent “a brief reporting on certain facts that demonstrated acts against Alberta Velásquez –a sister of Efraín Bámaca Velásquez- and her family, and with respect to whom the presence of several armed men was reported close to her home, asking insistently for her older son, Rudy López Velásquez,” which forced Alberta Velásquez to abandon her home together with her family; ∗ Judges Máximo Pacheco Gómez and Carlos Vicente de Roux Rengifo informed the Court that, for reasons of force majeure, they could not attend the deliberation and signing of the instant Order.