2 INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE 1. On September 13, 2004, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Commission” or “the Inter-American Commission”) filed before the Court an application against the State of Peru (hereinafter “the State” or “Peru”) originating in petition No. 11.062, received by the Secretariat of the Commission on October 8, 1992, by reason of the allegedly illegal arrest of Mr. Santiago GómezPalomino, which took effect on July 9, 1992 in Lima, Peru, and his forced disappearance presumptively resulting in his death, allegedly ascribable to agents of the State. 2. The Commission filed the application for the Court to determine whether the State failed to comply with its international duties and incurred in the violation of Articles 7 (Right to Personal Liberty), 4 (Right to Life), 5 (Right to Personal Integrity) 8 (Right to a Fair Trial) and 25 (Right to Judicial Protection) of the American Convention, all of them regarding Article 1(1) (Obligation to Respect Rights) of the aforementioned Convention, to the detriment of Mr. Santiago GómezPalomino. Likewise, the Commission alleged the violation of Article 5 (Right to Humane Treatment) of the American Convention, regarding Article 1(1) (Obligation to Respect Rights) of the aforementioned Convention, to the detriment of Mrs. Victoria Margarita Palomino-Buitrón, mother to Mr. Santiago Gómez-Palomino, and of Esmila Liliana Conislla-Cárdenas, who was living with him; the violation of Articles 8 (Right to a Fair Trial), 25 (Right to Judicial Protection) and 7(6) (Right to Personal Liberty) of the American Convention, regarding Article 1(1) (Obligation to Respect Rights) of the aforementioned Convention, to the detriment of the family of Mr. Santiago Gómez-Palomino and of Mrs. Conislla-Cárdenas, and the failure to comply with the obligations imposed under Articles 2 (Domestic Legal Effects) of the American Convention, and I of the Inter-American Convention On The Forced Disappearance Of Persons (hereinafter “Inter-American Convention On The Forced Disappearance”), by enacting and not amending Article 320 of the Penal Code effective in Peru, wherein the crime of forced disappearance of persons is defined. 3. In the aforementioned application, the Commission pointed out that “the total impunity attending the forced disappearance of Mr. Santiago Gómez-Palomino has contributed to protract over time the suffering caused to his next of kin by the violation of their fundamental rights [for which reason] it is the duty of the State […] to provide an adequate judicial response whereby the identity of those responsible for the forced disappearance Mr. Gómez-Palomino be established, his mortal remains be located and his next of kin be given adequate reparations." Along those lines, the Commission prayed the Inter-American Court that the State be ordered to adopt pecuniary and non pecuniary reparation measures. II JURISDICTION OF THE COURT 4. Peru ratified the American Convention on July 28, 1978 and accepted the contentious jurisdiction of the Court on January 21, 1981. Furthermore, the State ratified the Inter-American Convention On The Forced Disappearance on February 13, 2002.