5 representatives.8 It also ordered that financial assistance be provided through the Court’s Assistance Fund. The requested statements by affidavit were received on March 4, 2019. 11. Final written arguments and observations. On March 25, 2019, the representatives and the State submitted their respective final written arguments, and the Commission presented its final written observations. 12. Assistance Fund disbursements. On April 22, 2019, the Secretariat of the Inter-American Court (hereinafter “the Secretariat”), following the instructions of the President, informed the State of the disbursements through the Fund for this case and, in accordance with Article 5 of the Rules of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the Operation of the Assistance Fund, gave the State a deadline for presenting any observations it deemed relevant. The State presented its observations on April 26, 2019. 13. Deliberation of the case. The Court began deliberation of this judgment on May 9, 2019. III JURISDICTION 14. The Inter-American Court has jurisdiction to hear this case pursuant to Article 62(3) 9 of the American Convention because Guatemala has been a State Party to the American Convention since May 25, 1978, and accepted the contentious jurisdiction of the Court on March 9, 1987. IV PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS A. Determination of alleged victims A.1. Arguments of the parties and the Commission 15. With respect to the determination of alleged victims, the Commission indicated in Admissibility and Merits Report No. 78/17 that the alleged victim in this case is Manuel Martínez Coronado. 16. The representatives indicated that even though the Commission only identified Manuel Martínez Coronado as the alleged victim, his close family members should also be recognized as alleged victims because as the United Nations states, “The direct victims of abuse are not the only victims; their entire families, those under their care or custody, and those who have provided assistance in the midst of the abusive situation are also victims.” They argued that his wife, Manuela Girón, and his children, Rony Disrael Martínez Girón, Irma Yojana Martínez Girón, and Marleny Girón, endured countless burdensome bureaucratic processes in the effort to prevent the death of their loved one, in a process that was carried out without due diligence or the fundamental On March 4, 2019, the President of the Court issued an order granting a request by the Commission regarding the change in modality of the joint expert opinion of Parvais Jabbar and Edward Fitzgerald. That expert testimony was also offered in the cases of Ruiz Fuentes and Girón et al., both against Guatemala. Accordingly, the deadline for presenting the opinion by affidavit was extended to March 18, 2019. On the final date, the affidavit was presented. Available in Spanish at: http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/asuntos/ruizfuentes_mart%C3%ADnezcoronado_gir%C3%B3nyotro_valenzuela%C3%A1vi la_rodr%C3%ADguezrevolorioyotros_04_03_19.pdf. 9 Article 62(3) of the Convention establishes that: “[t]he jurisdiction of the Court shall comprise all cases concerning the interpretation and application of the provisions of this Convention that are submitted to it, provided that the States Parties to the case recognize or have recognized such jurisdiction, whether by special declaration pursuant to the preceding paragraphs, or a special agreement.” 8