Inter-American Court of Human Rights Case of García Prieto et al. v. El Salvador Judgement of November 20, 2007 (Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs) In the Case of García Prieto et al. v. El Salvador, The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Court”, “the Court” or “the Tribunal”), composed of the following judges:* Sergio García-Ramírez, President; Cecilia Medina-Quiroga, Vice President; Manuel E. Ventura-Robles, Judge; Leonardo A. Franco, Judge; Margarette May Macaulay, Judge; and Rhadys Abreu Blondet, Judge; also present, Pablo Saavedra-Alessandri, Secretary; and Emilia Segares-Rodríguez, Deputy Secretary; pursuant to Articles 62(3) and 63(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Convention” or “the American Convention”) and Articles 29, 31, 37(6), 54, 55, 56 and 58 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court (hereinafter “the Rules of Procedure”), delivers the following Judgment. I INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE AND SUBJECT-MATTER OF DISPUTE 1. On February 9, 2006, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter, “the Commission” or “the Inter-American Commission”) submitted an application against the State of El Salvador (hereinafter, “El Salvador” or “the State”) pursuant to Articles 51 and 61 of the American Convention. This application originated in petition No. 11.697, submitted to the Secretariat of the Commission on October 22, 1996 by José Mauricio García Prieto Hirlemann and Gloria Giralt de García Prieto, parents of Ramón Mauricio García Prieto Giralt (hereinafter “Ramón Mauricio García Prieto” or “Mr. García Prieto”), and by Carmen Alicia Estrada, widow * On January 22, 2007, Judge Diego García-Sayán recused himself from the present case, pursuant to Article 19 of the Statute of the Inter-American Court and Article 19 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure. In a communication of June 15, 2007, Judge ad hoc Alejandro Montiel Argüello formally communicated to the Court his renunciation as ad hoc judge due to circumstances beyond his control.