men traveling in a light blue car arrived at the offices of the Public Ministry, entered the building disregarding the security of the place, and scoured all the offices of the premises asking for Attorney Abraham Méndez. Finally, they left without having found the Prosecutor. The men identified themselves as members of the Presidential Staff. CONSIDERING: 1. That Guatemala is a State Party to the American Convention since May 25, 1978, and that it accepted the contentious jurisdiction of the Court, as set out in Article 62 of the Convention, on March 9, 1987; 2. That Article 63(2) of the Convention provides that, in case of extreme gravity and urgency, and when necessary to avoid irreparable damages to persons, the Court may, at the request of the Commission, adopt such provisional measures as it deems pertinent in matters not yet submitted to its consideration; 3. That Article 1(1) of the American Convention establishes the obligation of the State Parties to respect the rights and freedoms recognized in that treaty and to ensure to all persons subject to their jurisdiction the free and full exercise of those rights and freedoms; 4. That Guatemala is therefore under the obligation to adopt all necessary measures to protect the life and integrity of those persons whose rights might be threatened; 5. As the Commission has stated in its request for provisional measures, the situation reported to the Court constitutes "a prima facie case of urgent and grave danger to the lives and physical integrity of the witnesses and prosecuting Attorney investigating the death" of Jorge Carpio-Nicolle and others, and therefore considers that "[t]he development of the events reveals the existence of a deliberate purpose to obstruct the legal process;" and 6. In its request the Commission considers that: the internal adopted measures have been shown to be inefficient to protect the safety of the protected persons. This has been demonstrated by the continuous attacks and denounced threats and the incapacity of the authorities to investigate and punish the perpetrators of these threats, even though the victims have provided concrete documentation in this regard. THEREFORE: THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS, based on Article 63(2) of the American Convention on Human Rights and exercising the authority conferred on it by Article 24(4) of its Rules of Procedure, in prior consultation with the Permanent Commission of the Court, DECIDES: 1. To request that the Government of the Republic of Guatemala adopt without delay all necessary measures to effectively ensure the protection of the lives and personal integrity of the following persons: MARTA ELENA ARRIVILLAGA DE CARPIO,