3. Notification to the State. The Merits Report was notified to the State in a communication of July 3, 2019. According to the Commission, Paraguay responded to the Merits Report “rejecting the recommendations […] and arguing that all the guarantees of due process had been respected in the proceedings against the victims.” 4. Submission to the Court. On October 3, 2019, the Commission submitted this case to the Court, owing to “the need to obtain justice and reparation for the [presumed] victims.”5 The Court notes, with concern, that 15 years and 11 months and 15 years and 4 months, respectively, elapsed between the lodging of the initial petitions before the Commission and the submission of the case to the Court. 5. The Commission’s requests. Based on the foregoing, the Commission asked the Court to conclude and declare the international responsibility of Paraguay for the violations contained in Report No. 17/19, and to order the State, as measures of reparation, those included in the said report. II PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COURT 6. Notification of the State and the representatives. The submission of the case was notified to the State6 and to the representatives of the presumed victims7 (hereinafter “the representatives”) in communications of December 6, 2019.8 7. Brief with pleadings, motions and evidence. On January 27, 2020, the representatives presented their brief with pleadings, motions and evidence (hereinafter “pleadings and motions brief”) pursuant to Articles 25 and 40 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure. The representatives “fully endorsed” the Commission’s allegations and, in addition, indicated that the State had violated the right to be heard with due guarantees and within a reasonable time, the right to protection of honor and dignity, and the right to equality before the law. Furthermore, they asked that the Court order the State to adopt diverse measures of reparation and to reimburse certain costs and expenses. In this regard, they also identified as an injured party: Sara Concepción Parquet de Ríos, Shirley Rossana Ríos Parquet, Edgar Bonifacio Ríos Parquet and José Carlos Ríos Parquet, wife and children of Bonifacio Ríos Ávalos; and María Concepción Villalba Quevedo, Carlos Aníbal Fernández Villalba, José Luis Fernández Villalba, Julio Cesar Fernández Villalba, Jesús María Fernández Villalba and Catalina Fernández Ocampos, wife and children and “declared heirs”9 of Carlos Fernández Gadea.10 not responsible for the violation of the right to be heard and the right of defense. 5 The Commission appointed Commissioner Joel Hernández and then Deputy Executive Secretary Paulo Abrão as its delegates before the Court, and Marisol Blanchard, Deputy Executive Secretary, and Jorge Meza Flores and Christian González Chacón, Executive Secretariat lawyers, as legal advisers. 6 In a communication of January 8, 2020, the State appointed the lawyer Sergio Coscia, at the time Attorney General, as its Agent. Also, in a communication of February 21, 2020, Paraguay appointed Ambassador Marcelo Scappini, Director of the Human Rights Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as its Deputy Agent. Then, in a communication of January 4, 2021, the Paraguayan State, substituted its Agent by the lawyer Juan Rafael Caballero González, Attorney General. 7 The lawyers Sara Concepción Parquet de Ríos, Raquel Talavera de Veloso, Nicolás Rafael Gaona Irún and Carlos Aníbal Fernández Villalba were appointed as representatives in the proceedings before the Court. 8 On November 14, 2019, in response to a request by the Court’s Secretariat, the Commission forwarded clarifications and documentation relating to the annexes to the Merits Report. 9 Carlos Fernández Gadea died on June 20, 2010. Cf. Certified death certificate of Carlos Fernández Gadea (evidence file, volume IV, annex II.C to the pleadings and motions brief, folio 6284). 10 On March 3, 2020, in response to a request by the Court’s Secretariat, the representatives forwarded clarifications and documentation relating to the annexes to the pleadings and motions brief. 5