8 1. Ratify the Ruling of the President on Urgent Measures of December 21, 2004 in all its terms. 2. Call upon the State to adopt, without delay, the measures necessary to protect the life and personal integrity of Mr. Fermín Ramírez, in order to avoid any hindering of his case before the Inter-American system for the protection of human rights. 3. Call upon the State to inform the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of the measures adopted in complying with this Ruling no later than March 21, 2005. 4. Call upon the representatives of the alleged victim, beneficiary of the urgent measures ordered, to present their observations to the State’s report within a one-week term as of the receipt of the mentioned state report, and upon the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights to present its observations to the State’s report in a twoweek period as of its receipt. 5. Call upon the State to, after its first communication (supra operative paragraph 3), to continue informing the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, every two months, of the measures adopted and call upon the representatives of the alleged victim, beneficiary of the urgent measures ordered, and upon the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to present their observations to said State Reports within a four and six-week period respectively, as of the receipt of the mentioned State reports. […] 40. The State has presented three reports on the provisional measures ordered and the representatives have submitted their corresponding observations. The Commission presented its observations to the two first State reports. Said provisional measures are in force at the time this Judgment was issued. 41. The application presented by the Inter-American Commission before the Court in the present case refers to the facts that originated the issuing of the provisional measures ordered by this Tribunal in favour of Mr. Fermín Ramírez. In consideration of the nature of this matter, the Tribunal considers that the corresponding analysis must be reserved for the determination of the merits regarding the controversy presented. VI EVIDENCE 42. Before turning to the analysis of the evidence received, the Court, pursuant to Articles 44 and 45 of the Rules of Procedure, will make reference to certain general considerations applicable to the specific case, most of which have been developed in the jurisprudence of this Tribunal. 43. The principle of the presence of the parties to dispute applies to evidentiary matters, and it involves respecting the parties’ right to a defense, being this principle one of the foundations of Article 44 of the Rules of Procedure, in what refers to the time frame in which the evidence must be submitted, in order to secure equality among the parties.3 3 Cfr. Case of Caesar. Judgment of March 11, 2005. Series C No. 123, para. 41; Case of the Serrano Cruz Sisters. Judgment of March 1, 2005. Series C No. 120, para. 31; and Case of Lori Berenson Mejía. Judgment of November 25, 2004. Series C No. 119, para. 63.