7 37. The State’s final oral pleadings, delivered at the public hearing held at the seat of the Court on July 6, 2004, where, inter alia, it acknowledged the danger to various persons involved in the present case and, therefore, expressed its willingness to expand the existing measures. CONSIDERING THAT: 1. Guatemala is a State party to the American Convention on Human Rights and, on March 9, 1987, pursuant to Article 62 of the Convention, recognized the Court’s jurisdiction as binding. 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 consideration. With respect to a case not yet submitted to the Court, it may act at the request of the Commission.” 3. Article 25(1) of the Court’s Rules of Procedure provides that “[a]t any stage of the proceedings involving cases of extreme gravity and urgency, and when necessary to avoid irreparable damage to persons, the Court may, at the request of a party or on its own motion, order such provisional measures as it deems pertinent, pursuant to Article 63(2) of the Convention.” 4. Article 1(1) of the Convention establishes the duty of States parties to respect the rights and freedoms recognized therein and to ensure their free and full exercise to all persons subject to their jurisdiction. This duty is all the more compelling in the case of those involved in proceedings before the oversight bodies established by the American Convention. 5. The purpose of provisional measures in domestic legal systems (domestic procedural law) in general, is to preserve the rights of the parties to a dispute, thereby ensuring that execution of the judgment on the merits is not obstructed or otherwise prejudiced by their actions pendente lite. 6. Under the International Law of Human Rights, urgent and provisional measures serve a further purpose, which is to protect fundamental human rights, thereby avoiding irreparable harm to persons. 7. To effectively ensure the rights recognized in the American Convention, the State party has an obligation, erga omnes, to protect all persons subject to its jurisdiction.2 8. It is a basic principle of the law of the international responsibility of States that States parties to the Convention have an obligation to comply with its provisions 2 Cf., inter alia, Matter of Pueblo indígena de Sarayaku. Provisional Measures. Order of the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights of July 6, 2004, ‘considering’ ten; Matter of the “El Nacional” and “Así es la Noticia” Newspapers. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of July 6, 2004, ‘considering’ twelve; and Matter of Pueblo indígena de Kankuamo. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of July 5, 2004, ‘considering’ eleven.