-5gravity and urgency and the prevention of irreparable damage to persons are met, provisional measures become a real jurisdictional guarantee of a preventive nature.2 6. That Article 1(1) of the Convention embodies the obligation of States Parties to respect the rights and freedoms recognized therein and to ensure to all persons subject to their jurisdiction the free and full exercise of those rights and freedoms. 7. That the adoption of provisional measures does not imply a decision on the merits of the dispute that exists between the petitioners and the State. By adopting provisional measures, the Court is merely ensuring that it can exercise its mandate faithfully, pursuant to the Convention, in cases of extreme gravity and urgency that require measures of protection to avoid irreparable damage to persons. 8. That the States should grant effective and sufficient guarantees to the defenders of human rights so that they may carry out their activities freely, and should pay particular attention to actions that limit or hinder their work, since this work makes a positive and complementary contribution to the State’s efforts pursuant to its position as guarantor of the rights of those subject to its jurisdiction.3 9. That, from the information provided by the Commission, it is clear that, despite certain measures of protection adopted by the State in the context of the precautionary measures ordered by the Commission (supra Having seen paragraph 3(e)), a situation persists of extreme gravity and urgency and possible irreparable damage to the rights to life and personal integrity of Mery Naranjo Jiménez, her children Juan David, Alejandro, Sandra Janeth, Alba Mery, all Naranjo Jiménez, her daughter-in-law Erika Johann Gómez, her son-in-law Javier Augusto Torres Durán, and her grandchildren Heidi Tatiana Naranjo Gómez, Sebastián Naranjo Jiménez, María Camila Naranjo Jiménez, Aura María Amaya Naranjo and Esteban Torres Naranjo, and of María del Socorro Mosquera Londoño (supra Having seen paragraph 5). 10. That, also, according to the information provided by the Inter-American Commission, the child, Luisa María Escudero Jiménez, niece of Mrs. Naranjo Jiménez, who was in her house, received a shot allegedly fired by members of a Command of soldiers of the National Army and paramilitary forces on February 14, 2006 (supra Having seen paragraph 3(c)). Despite this, the Commission did not ask the Court to adopt provisional measures in favor of the child. Given the situation described, the Court finds that the life and personal integrity of Luisa María Escudero Jiménez are at risk. 2 Cf. Matter of the Yare I and Yare II Capital Region Penitentiary Center. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of March 30, 2006, fifth considering paragraph; Matter of the Monagas Judicial Confinement Center (“La Pica”). Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of February 9, 2006, fifth considering paragraph, and Matter of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation. Provisional Measures. Order of the President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of April 21, 2006, fifth considering paragraph. 3 Cf. Matter of the Monagas Judicial Confinement Center (“La Pica”). Provisional Measures, supra note 2, fourteenth considering paragraph; Matter of Grandson Palma. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of July 9, 2004, eighth considering paragraph, and Matter of Lysias Fleury. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of December 2, 2003, tenth considering paragraph.