on the possible violation of the right to personal liberty established in Article 7 of the Convention. 95. However, the IACHR observes that on May 22, 1997 and May 30, 1997, family members of Marco Bienvenido Palma Mendoza filed a habeas corpus petition at the Municipality of Manta and at the Mayor’s Office of the Metropolitan District of Quito, respectively. According to the proved facts, the Mayor of Manta limited himself to asked the various state dependencies (Commander of Combat Wing No. 23, Captain of the Port of Manta, Chief of Manta Police Commando, Chief of the Manta O.I.D., Eighth Criminal Judge of Manabí, the Traffic Court judge, and national police commissioners) for Mr. Palma to be brought to his presence without the recourse producing any results. Likewise, the Mayor of the Metropolitan District of Quito only asked various authorities to bring Mr. Palma before him on June 6, 1997, also without result. 96. Based on the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court, the Commission recalls that Article 25 (1) of the Convention establishes, in broad terms, the obligation of the States to offer all people under their jurisdiction an effective judicial remedy against acts that violate their fundamental rights.87 With this perspective, the Court has pointed out that for the State to comply with the provisions of the cited Article 25(1) of the Convention, it is not enough for those remedies to exist formally; rather they must be effective,88 that is to say that they should offer the person a real possibility of filing a simple and quick remedy that makes it possible to obtain the required judicial protection in his or her case. The Court has repeatedly expressed that the existence of these guarantees “is one of the basic pillars, not only of the American Convention, but also of the Rule of Law itself in a democratic society in the sense of the Convention.”89 97. The Commission notes that according to legislation in effect at the time of the events, the family members of Mr. Palma, the victims in this case, had at their disposition, and used, the recourse of habeas corpus to try to identify the whereabouts of Marco Bienvenido Palma Mendoza, who according to the information available, had initially been disappeared by people identifying themselves as members of the FAE. The habeas corpus remedy was regulated by Article 28 of the Political Constitution of Ecuador in the following manner:90 All persons believed to be illegally deprived of their liberty can avail themselves of Habeas Corpus. This right will be exercised on its own by a person filing, without need for a written mandate, before the Mayor of the jurisdiction in question, or before a person acting on behest of the mayor. The municipal authority shall immediately order that the person be brought before his presence and that a warrant for that person’s arrest be shown. His order will be obeyed without comments or excuses by those in charge of the social rehabilitation centers or places of detention. Informed of the situation, the Mayor shall order the immediate liberty of the detainee if that person has not been presented, if the warrant has not been shown, if the warrant does not comply with legal requirements, or if 87 Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Maritza Urrutia, Judgment of November 27, 2003, Ser. C. No. 103, para. 116. 88 Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Maritza Urrutia, Judgment of November 27, 2003, Ser. C. No. 103, para. 117; Case of Juan Humberto Sanchez, Preliminary Exception, Merits Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of June 7, 2003, Ser. C. No. 99, para. 121. 89 Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case of Cesti Hurtado. Judgment of September 29, 1999, para. 121. Case of Castillo Petruzzi et. al. Judgment of May 30, 1999, Ser. C. No. 52, para. 184; Case of the “White Van” (Panigua Morales et.al). Judgment of March 8, 1998, Ser. C. No. 37, para. 164; Case of Blake, Judgment of January 24, 1998, Ser., C, No. 36, para. 102; and Case of Castillo Paez, Judgment of November 3, 1997. Ser. C. No. 34, para. 82. 90 Political Constitution of 1978 codified February 13, 1997.