Secretariat of the Inter-American Court (hereinafter also “the Secretariat”), following instructions from the President of the Court: a) requested the parties to present their observations to the information presented by the State; b) required the representatives to respond to the specific request for information and c) made clarifications regarding the new facts regarding the threats reported by the representatives. CONSIDERING THAT: 1. Mexico is a State Party to the American Convention since March 24, 1981, and, according to Article 62 of the Convention, recognized the contentious jurisdiction of the Court on December 16, 1998. 2. Article 63(2) of the American Convention provides that, “[i]n cases of extreme gravity and urgency, and when necessary to avoid irreparable damage to persons, the Court shall adopt such provisional measures as it deems pertinent in matters it has under its consideration. With respect to a case not yet submitted to the Court, it may act at the request of the Commission.” This provision is also regulated by Article 27 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court.1 3. The regulation established in Article 63(2) of the Convention confers an obligatory character to the adoption, on the part of the State, of the provisional measures that this Tribunal orders, so that according to the basic principle of the law of international responsibility of the State, supported by international jurisprudence, the States must comply with their obligations under the Convention in good faith (pacta sunt servanda).2 4. Under International Human Rights law, provisional measures are not only precautionary, in the sense of preserving a juridical situation; they are also safeguards inasmuch as they protect human rights, in that they seek to prevent irreparable harm to persons. The measures are applied when the requisite basic conditions of extreme gravity and urgency are present and when necessary to prevent irreparable harm to persons. In this manner, provisional measures become a true jurisdictional guarantee that is preventive in nature. 3 a) Assessment of the risk 1 Court Rules of Procedure approved in the LXXXV Regular Period of Sessions, held on November 16 to 18, 2009. 2 Cf. Matter of James et al. Provisional Measures regarding Trinidad and Tobago. Order of the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights of June 14, 1998, Considering Clause 6; Matter of The Communities of Jiguamiandó and Curbaradó. Provisional Measures regarding Colombia. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of June 7, 2011, Considering Clause 4. Matter of The Communities of Pueblo Indígena de Kankuamo. Provisional Measures regarding Colombia. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of June 7, 2011, Considering Clause 4. 3 Cf. Caso of “La Nación” Newspaper. Provisional Measures regarding Costa Rica. Order of the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights of September 7, 2001, Considering Clause 4; Matter of The Communities of Jiguamiandó and Curbaradó, supra note 2, Considering Clause 5. Matter of The Communities of Pueblo Indígena de Kankuamo, supra note 2, Considering Clause 5. 2