6 Personal Liberty); 8(1), 8(2), 8(2)(b), 8(2)(d), 8(2)(e), 8(2)(g) (Right to Fair Trial); 17(1) (Rights of the Family); 21(1) and 21(2) (Right to Property), and 25(1) (Right to Judicial Protection) of the American Convention. They also asked the Court to adjudge that the State abridged Articles 1, 6 and 8 of the Inter-American Convention against Torture. They furthermore asked the Court to find a violation of the right to humane treatment to the detriment of Beatrice Baruet, Sarah Vachon, Jeanne Camila Vachon, Lisianne Judith Tibi, and Valerian Edouard Tibi, for their suffering. Finally, they requested certain reparations and the payment of costs and expenses. 26. On October 31, 2003 the State filed two preliminary objections, replied to the application, and submitted comments on the pleadings and motions, after having requested an extension, which was granted by the President. The objections filed by the State were the following: “Non-exhaustion of domestic remedies” and “Lack of ratione materiae jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court to hear on violations of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture.” 27. On December 18, 2003 the Inter-American Commission submitted, in English, its comments on the preliminary objections filed by the State. The following day, the Secretariat informed the Commission that it would not process said brief until it received the translation into Spanish. The Commission submitted the translation into Spanish on January 6, 2004. In said brief, the Commission asked the Court to find the first preliminary objection inadmissible, and it made no statement on the second preliminary objection filed. 28. On December 19, 2003 the representatives submitted comments on the preliminary objections filed by the State and they asked the Court to reject the two preliminary objections and to continue processing the instant case, in the merits stage. 29. On June 11, 2004 the President issued an Order in which, pursuant to Article 47(3) of the Rules of Procedure, it authorized Elsy Magdalena Peñafiel Toscano, Blanca López and Gloria Antonia Pérez Vera to submit their testimony trough affidavits submitted before a notary public, and also authorized Alain Abellard, Laurent Rapin, Brigitte Durin and Michel Robert, all of them offered by the representatives, the former three as witnesses and the latter as an expert witness, to submit their testimony and expert opinion through statements before a notary public. The President ordered the substitution of expert witness Alberto Wray, offered by the representatives, by César Banda Batallas, pursuant to Article 44(3) of the Rules of Procedure, and authorized rendering of his statement before a notary public. The President also granted a non-extendable five-day period, beginning on the date when the affidavits were forwarded, for the Commission and the representatives to submit such comments as they deemed pertinent regarding the statements of Elsy Magdalena Peñafiel Toscano, Blanca López and Gloria Antonia Pérez Vera, and for the Commission and the State to send their comments on the statements by Alain Abellard, Laurent Rapin and Brigitte Durin and on the expert opinions of Michel Robert and César Banda Batallas. The President also summoned the Commission, the representatives of the alleged victim and his next of kin, and the State to a public hearing to be held at the seat of the Court, beginning on July 7, 2004, to hear their arguments on the preliminary objections and merits, reparations, and costs, and to hear the testimony of Daniel Tibi, Beatrice Baruet and Juan Montenegro, and the expert opinions of Santiago Argüello Mejía, Ana Deutsch and Carlos Martín Beristain, offered by the Commission, the representatives, and the State, as