4 victims and their next of kin (hereinafter “the representatives”,) according to the terms of the application; the Secretariat further informed the said representatives that they would have a term of two months to file their brief of requests, arguments and evidence (hereinafter “brief of requests and arguments”.) 14. On June 7, 2005, the representatives filed a brief of requests and arguments. In addition to the statements made by the Commission in its application (supra paras. 2, 3, 4 and 5), the representatives requested the Court to decide whether the State violated the “right to the truth [...] embodied in Articles 8, 13, 25 and 1(1) of the American Convention, in detriment of each of the victims identified in the application it filed on behalf of the Venezuelan society.” On June 14, 2005, the representatives submitted the Appendixes to the brief of requests and arguments. 15. On July 27, 2005, the State requested “an extended period to submit the answer to the application filed by the Inter-American Commission.” On July 28, 2005, the Secretariat, following instructions of the President, informed Venezuela that no extension could be granted on the basis of Article 38 of the Rules of Procedure, which establish that the period to answer cannot be extended. 16. On August 1, 2005, the State filed a brief containing preliminary objections, and it also filed an answer to the application and its comments to the brief of requests and arguments (hereinafter “answer to the application”). The preliminary objection refers to the failure to exhaust local remedies within the domestic jurisdiction. 17. On August 1, 2005, the Secretariat, pursuant to Article 37(4) of the Rules of Procedure, granted the Commission and the representatives a term of thirty days to submit their written briefs on the preliminary objections. 18. On August 19, 2005, the Commission filed its brief on the preliminary objection filed by the State and requested the Court to dismiss the same. On August 26, 2005, the representatives filed their briefs on the said preliminary objection and requested the same to be dismissed. 19. On December 9, 2005, the Commission requested the “admission of authenticated copies of 16 death records of [alleged] victims, as additional evidence” regarding the instant case. In this aspect, the Commission pointed out that “said evidence is offered in this procedural stage since it was made available to the Commission on September 15, 2005, that is to say, after the filing of the application before the Court.” On December 16 and 19, following instructions of the President, the Secretariat requested the representatives and the State to submit the objections that they might consider appropriate regarding the request for admission of “additional evidence” made by the Inter-American Commission. 20. On December 22, 2005, the representatives pointed out that they “did not have any objections to the evidence furnished by the [...] Commission.” On January 4, 2006, the State communicated that “it formally objected the admission of such evidence, since the same was not filed together with the application and it is not contemplated in any of the grounds that might allow its admission by way of exception.” 21. On February 7, 2006, the President issued an Order requesting Pedro Ramón Castro and Carmen Yolanda Pérez-Santoya, witnesses proposed by the Commission