2 the representatives of the alleged victims (hereinafter “the representatives”) reached an agreement within the framework of a friendly settlement,3 whereby the State recognized its international responsibility and committed to make reparations to the alleged victims. However, on February 20, 2006 the representatives expressed their desire to discontinue the friendly settlement process; therefore the proceeding before the Commission was continued.4 On March 14, 2008 the Commission approved the Report on Admissibility and Merits No. 22/08, pursuant to Article 50 of the Convention.5 The report recommended that the State perform, among other, a special, rigorous, impartial, and effective investigation that would prosecute and punish those responsible, as well as remove all factual and legal obstacles that kept the case in impunity. This report was notified to the State on April 30, 2008. After considering that Guatemala had not adopted its recommendations, the Commission decided to submit the instant case to the jurisdiction of the Court. The Commission appointed Víctor Abramovich, Commissioner and Santiago A. Canton, Executive Secretary, as Delegates, and Elizabeth Abi-Mershed, Deputy Executive Secretary, and Juan Pablo Albán Alencastro and Isabel Madariaga as legal advisors. 2. The application is related to the alleged lack of due diligence in the investigation, prosecution, and punishment of those responsible for the massacre of 251 inhabitants of the community (parcelamiento) of Las Dos Erres, la Libertad, Department of Petén, which occurred between December 6 and 8, 1982. This massacre was performed by the specialized group within the armed forces of Guatemala named kaibiles6. The community’s inhabitants included children, women, 2 The representatives denounced alleged violations to the Human Rights contained in Articles 4 (Right to Life), 5 (Right to Humane Treatment), 8 (Right to Fair Trial), 19 (Rights of the Child), and 25 (Right to Judicial Protection) of the Convention. Subsequently, on August 26, 1997 the petitioners submitted a brief whereby they requested that the Commission declare the State responsible for the violations to the Human Rights contained in Articles 3 (Right to Juridical Personality), 4 (Right to Life), 5 (Right to Humane Treatment), 7 (Right to Personal Liberty), 8 (Right to Fair Trial), 11 (Right to Privacy), 17 (Rights of the Family), 19 (Rights of the Child), 21 (Right to Property), 22 (Freedom of Movement and Residence), 25 (Right to Judicial Protection), and 29 (Restrictions Regarding Interpretation) of the Convention, in conformity with Article 1(1) (Obligation to Respect Rights) of that instrument. 3 In the agreement signed on April 1, 2000 within the framework of a friendly settlement between the State and the representatives, the State expressed its recognition of international responsibility in the following terms: “The Government of Guatemala recognizes the institutional responsibility of the State for the events that occurred from December 6 to 8, 1982 in the Community of “Las Dos Erres”, village of Las Cruces, situated in the municipality of La Libertad, Department [of] Petén […], in which members of the Guatemalan Army massacred approximately 300 persons, residents of that community, men, children, elderly, and women. The Government of Guatemala also recognizes the institutional responsibility of the State of Guatemala for the delay in justice in terms of investigating the facts related to the massacre, identifying the perpetrators and masterminds, and applying the corresponding punishment […] Guatemala accepts its responsibility for the human rights violations denounced by the petitioners in the communication sent to the Commission on September 13, 1996, namely, violation of the right to the recognition of juridical personality, right to life, right to humane treatment, right to personal liberty, rights of the family, rights of the child, right to property, right to fair trial, right to judicial protection, and violation of the duty to investigate, punish, and redress.” 4 The friendly settlement procedure was not completed with a report, as required by Article 49 of the Convention. 5 In the report on Admissibility and Merits No. 22/08 the Commission concluded that the State violated the rights enshrined in Articles 3 (Right to Juridical Personality), 4 (Right to Life), 5 (Right to Humane Treatment), 7 (Right to Personal Liberty), 8(1) (Right to Fair Trial), 17 (Rights of the Family), 19 (Rights of the Child), 21 (Right to Property), and 25 (Right to Judicial Protection) of the Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) (Obligation to Respect Rights) of said instrument, for the events occurred in the community of “Las Dos Erres”, on December 6, 7, 8, and 9, 1982, and the subsequent denial of justice. 6 According to the Report by the Commission for Historical Clarification, Guatemala: Memory of Silence (hereinafter “CEH, Guatemala: Memory of Silence”), Guatemala: United Nations Office for Project Services, 1999; “the kaibiles were a special counterinsurgency force of the Guatemalan Army, who in