5 of habeas corpus filed on behalf of Ernest Rafael Castillo-Páez), Augusto Zúñiga-Paz (attorney for the alleged victim in the domestic proceeding), Luis Delgado-Aparicio (Member of the Special Commission of the Chamber of Deputies), and Cecilia Valenzuela (journalist). Expert reports were also produced by Enrique Bernales-Ballesteros (former Peruvian Senator and erstwhile Chairman of the United Nations Human Rights Committee), and Francisco Eguiguren-Praeli (Deputy Director of the Andean Commission of Jurists). 24. On April 8, 1996, the State submitted a brief in which it objected to Ms. María Esther Aguirre-Vera and Ms. Erika Katherine Vera-de la Cruz as witnesses on the ground that their statements had been made anonymously and because they held a particular view of the events; to Ms. María Elena Castro-Osorio and Mr. Joe Roberto Ruiz-Huapaya on the ground that they were totally unknown in the case since they had never testified in it; to Mr. Cronwell Pierre Castillo-Castillo because he was the father of Ernesto Rafael Castillo-Páez and therefore had a direct interest in the outcome of the Case filed with the Court; to Judge Elba Minaya-Calle because she had heard and disposed of the appeal of habeas corpus filed on behalf of Mr. Castillo-Páez; to Mr. Augusto Zúñiga-Paz because he was the attorney for the plaintiff and therefore had a direct interest in the outcome of the case with regard to the material and moral compensation claimed in the petition owing to the attempt on his life; and to Cecilia Valenzuela on the ground that she had been presented as a witness in the petition. 25. In its observations of May 10, 1996, the Commission opposed the State's objection to the witnesses and confirmed the names of the witnesses and experts proposed in its brief of March 4, 1996 (supra, para. 24). 26. By Order of September 10, 1996, the Court decided to dismiss the State's objection to the aforementioned witnesses (supra, para. 24), and reserved the right to evaluate their statements at a later date. It further authorized the President to order measures designed to permit the witnesses and experts proposed by the Commission to give their statements and opinions. 27. By Order of October 11, 1996, the President summoned the parties to a public hearing at the seat of the Court on February 6 and 7, 1997, to hear the statements of the witnesses and experts proposed by the Commission (supra, para. 23). 28. On February 6 and 7, 1997, the Court held a public hearing on the merits of the case and heard the conclusions of the parties. There appeared before the Court: for the State of Peru: Mario Cavagnaro-Basile, Agent, and Mariano García-Godos, Minister in the Diplomatic Service; for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Oscar Luján-Fappiano, Delegate; Domingo E. Acevedo, Attorney; Ronald Gamarra, Assistant; Viviana Krsticevic, Assistant; Ariel Dulitzky, Assistant; and Francisco Cox, Assistant;