the judicial authorities, the Commission takes note of the aforementioned delays in carrying out various procedures. 150. In sum, the Commission finds that the period of almost 9 years that it took the domestic system of justice to punish those responsible for the acts exceeds what may be considered reasonable The Commission concludes that the delay during that period of time constituted a denial of justice to the detriment of the next of kin of the victims, in violation of the rights to a fair trial and judicial protection recognized at Articles 8(1) and 25(1) the American Convention, in connection with Article 1(1) of that instrument, to the detriment of the surviving victims and the next of kin of all the victims mentioned in the sole annex to this report. 4. Right to equal protection (Article 24 of the American Convention, read in conjunction with Article 1(1) thereof) 151. The Inter-American Court has written that “[n]on-discrimination, together with equality before the law and equal protection of the law, are elements of a general basic principle related to the protection of human rights.”221 The Court wrote the following regarding the text of Article 24 of the American Convention: (…) while Article 1(1) refers to the State’s obligation to respect and guarantee “without discrimination” the rights contained in the American Convention, Article 24 protects the right to “equal protection of the law.”222 Article 24 of the American Convention prohibits de jure and de facto discrimination, not just with respect to the rights upheld in that treaty, but also with respect to any law that a State enacts and enforces. In other words, if a State discriminates in its observance of a convention-protected right or in guaranteeing such a right, it is in noncompliance with its obligation under Article 1(1) and the substantive right in question. If, on the other hand, the discrimination concerns unequal protection of the domestic law or its application, it has to be examined in light of Article 24 of the American Convention.223 152. A clear demonstration of the right to equal protection is every person’s right not to be the victim of racial or ethnic discrimination. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination –to which Guatemala is party-224 defines this form of discrimination as follows: (…) any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.” [Article 1… and stipulates that each States Party, inter alia,] undertakes to engage in no act or practice of racial discrimination against persons, groups of persons or institutions and to ensure that all public authorities and public institutions, national and local, shall act in conformity with this obligation [Article 2(1)(a)], not to sponsor, defend or support racial discrimination by any persons or organizations [Article 2(1)(b)]. 221 I/A Court H.R., Juridical Condition and Rights of the Undocumented Migrants. Advisory Opinion OC-18/03 of September 17, 2003, Series A. No. 18, par.83. The Human Rights Committee has made the same observation: “Non-discrimination, together with equality before the law and equal protection of the law without any discrimination, constitute a basic and general principle relating to the protection of human rights.” Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 18: Non-discrimination, November 11, 1989, paragraph 1. 222 I/A Court H.R., Case of Barbani Duarte et al. v. Uruguay. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of October 13, 2011. Series C No. 234, par.174; and Case of Atala Riffo and Daughters v. Chile. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of February 24, 2012. Series C No. 239, par.82. 223 I/A Court H.R., Case of the Displaced Afro-descendant Communities in the Río Cacarica Basin (Operation Genesis) v. Colombia. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of November 20 2013. Series C No. 270, par.333. 224 Guatemala signed it on September 8, 1967, and ratified it on January 18, 1983. 33