I INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE AND PURPOSE OF THE DISPUTE 1. The case before the Court. On November 10, 2011, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter, “the Inter-American Commission” or “the Commission”) submitted to the jurisdiction of the Court the case of ”Carlos Antonio Luna López” (hereinafter, ”submission brief”) against the Republic of Honduras (hereinafter, “the State” or “Honduras”), indicating that Carlos Antonio Luna López (hereinafter, “Carlos Luna López” or “Mr. Luna López”), a human rights advocate and member of the city council of Catacamas, Olancho Province, Honduras, was murdered on May 18, 1998, as he was leaving a meeting in the Mayor’s Office of Catacamas. In response to this incident, the competent authorities did not take any immediate steps to protect the crime scene or to conduct an autopsy. Subsequently a process was opened against the perpetrators and instigators of the crime. During the proceedings one of the material authors was prosecuted; he was later murdered in a maximum security prison after indicating that he feared for his life for having named several of the intellectual authors of the crime. Moreover, a number of witnesses were subjected to harassment and threats during the proceedings; several judges even excused themselves during the process. The State did not open an investigation into the evidence indicating the involvement of state officials. During the public hearing in this case, the Court learned of the sentence imposed on another material author involved in the facts of the case. 2. Proceedings before the Inter-American Commission. The proceedings before the Commission were as follows: a) Petition. On January 13, 2003, the Team for Analysis, Investigation and Communication (ERIC, for its Spanish acronym) and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) presented the initial petition before the Commission; b) Report on Admissibility. On October 13, 2004, the Commission approved Report on Admissibility No. 63/04;1 c) Report on Merits. On July 22, 2011, the Commission approved the Report on Merits No. 100/11,2 in compliance with Article 50 of the Convention (hereinafter, “Report on Merits” or “Report No. 100/11”), in which it reached a number of conclusions and made several recommendations to Honduras. a. Conclusions. The Commission concluded that the State was responsible for the violation of the following rights recognized by the American Convention: i. the right to life (Article 4 of the Convention), in relation to Article 1(1) thereof, to the detriment of Carlos Luna López; ii. the right to a fair trial and judicial protection (Articles 8 and 25 of the Convention), in relation to Article 1(1) thereof, to the detriment of the family of Mr. Luna López, namely Mariana Lubina López, Rosa Margarita Valle Hernández, Carlos Antonio Luna Valle, Lubina Mariana Luna Valle, César Augusto Luna Valle, Allan Miguel Luna Valle, José Fredy Luna Valle and Roger Herminio Luna Valle; 1 In this Report, the Commission declared petition No. 60/03 admissible with respect to the presumed violation of Articles 1(1), 4, 5(1), 5(2), 8(1), 23 and 25(1) of the American Convention. Cf. Report on Admissibility No. 63/04, P. 60-2003, Carlos Antonio Luna López, October 13, 2004 (File on the proceeding before the Commission, pages 3645 to 3652). 2 Report on Merits No. 100/11, Case 12.472, Carlos Antonio Luna López et al. v. Honduras, July 22, 2011 (File on the proceeding before the Commission, pages 3873 to 3925). 4