2 an attorney and human rights advocate who had engaged part of his professional life in ∗ reporting crimes committed by the “golden boys, ” an alleged death squad made up of civilian police and other government employees. He also devoted himself to furthering criminal cases filed against these agents of the State. The attorney was murdered on October 20, 1996 in the city of Macaíba, State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The application noted that the work of Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho “focused on trying to put a stop to the situation of total impunity in Rio Grande do Norte, [in which] agents of the State abducted, murdered and tortured persons and received no punishment whatsoever.” The Commission asked the Court for a ruling on alleged violations that took place after December 10, 1998, when the State recognized the contentious jurisdiction of the Court; and it stated that “the flawed actions of state authorities, seen in their entirety, resulted in a failure to investigate, pursue, apprehend, prosecute and convict those responsible for the murder [of Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho, and that] after more than [ten] years, the perpetrators have not been identified or punished, and therefore [his] parents have not been able to bring legal action for the purpose of obtaining a settlement for damages suffered.” 3. Accordingly, the Commission asked the Court to order the State to adopt certain measures of reparation as specified in the application, and to pay reimbursement for costs and expenses incurred in pursuing the case at the domestic level and before the bodies of the inter-American system for the protection of human rights. II COMPETENCE 4. The Court has jurisdiction to hear the preliminary objections and merits, reparations and costs in this case, in keeping with Article 62(3) of the Convention, because Brazil has been a State Party to the American Convention since September 25, 1992, and accepted the contentious jurisdiction of the Court on December 10, 1998. III PROCEEDING BEFORE THE COMMISSION 5. On December 11, 1997, the Centro de Derechos Humanos y Memoria Popular (Center for Human Rights and Popular Memory, CDHMP), the Holocaust Human Rights Project and the Group of International Human Rights Law Students (hereinafter “the petitioners”) filed a complaint against Brazil with the Inter-American Commission, alleging State responsibility in the death of Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho, murdered on October 20, 1996. The petitioners claimed that the State had shirked its obligation to guarantee the right to life of Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho and to conduct a conscientious investigation of his death, prosecute the perpetrators and invoke effective judicial remedies. On August 21, 2000, Global Justice joined the case as co-petitioner. The complaint was filed in English. 6. On January 21, 1998, the Commission forwarded the relevant sections of the complaint to the State, asking it to reply within 90 days. On January 26, 1998, the State requested a Portuguese version of the petition. On February 6, 1998, the Commission asked the petitioners for a translation, which was received on October 13, 1998. That same day, the applicable sections of the petition were transmitted to the State in Portuguese, with a request to supply any information that might help the Commission determine whether domestic remedies had been exhausted in this case; the Commission granted a new 90-day term for this purpose. ∗ In the Portuguese version of this Judgment, meninos de ouro.