2 3. The Commission also requested the Court to order the State to adopt the pecuniary and non-pecuniary reparations claimed by the representatives of the victim and his next of kin. Finally, it requested the Inter-American Court to order the State to pay the costs resulting from processing the case at the national level, and at the international level before the bodies of the Inter-American system for the protection of human rights. II COMPETENCE 4. Guatemala has been a State Party to the American Convention since May 25, 1978, and accepted the obligatory jurisdiction of the Court on March 9, 1987. Therefore, the Court is competent to hear this case, in accordance with Article 62 of the Convention. Furthermore, Guatemala has been a State party to the InterAmerican Convention on Forced Disappearance since February 25, 2000. III PROCEEDING BEFORE THE COMMISSION 5. On September 8, 1998, the Center for Justice and International Law and the Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo [Mutual Support Group] (hereinafter “GAM”) submitted a petition to the Inter-American Commission, based on the alleged forced disappearance of Marco Antonio Molina Theissen by the Guatemalan Army. On February 3, 1999, the Commission forwarded the pertinent parts of the petition to the State. 6. On July 31, 2000, the Commission made itself available to the parties in order to reach a friendly settlement of the matter. 7. On August 9, 2000, during the procedure for the friendly settlement of several cases being processed before the Commission, the President of the Republic of Guatemala, at that time, Alfonso Portillo, acknowledged the State’s “international responsibility” in the case of Molina Theissen. 8. On January 31, 2001, the Commission invited the parties to a working meeting at the seat of the Commission to be held on March 2, 2001, to discuss the terms of a possible agreement for a friendly settlement. On April 30, 2001, the petitioners informed the Commission that they intended to withdraw from the friendly settlement procedure initiated with the State. 9. On October 10, 2001, the Commission adopted Report No. 79/01, in which it declared the petition admissible. 10. On June 3, 2002, the State presented its comments on the merits of the case and requested the Inter-American Commission to promote actively the friendly settlement procedure. 11. On July 4, 2002, the petitioners presented their comments on the merits and requested the Commission to issue the final report on the case, as stipulated in Article 50 of the American Convention.