2 the first instance in the El Amparo case in 1989, inasmuch as no copy of the order of the President of the Republic of Venezuela, alluded to, had been submitted to the Court. However, it should be noted that the proceedings state that, following Major Ricardo Pérez Gutiérrez’s dismissal and the nullification of his rulings, the case continued in the normal way. 3. That the petitioners quote a number of sentences contained in the briefs presented by the Government of Venezuela, or delivered at the public hearing by its agents, and infer from them that the Government’s recognition of the application of Article 54 of the Code of Military Justice in the El Amparo Case. The Court considers that these incidental sentences do not have the effect attributed to them by the petitioners since the Court repeatedly claimed that it is not the mere existence of Article 54 of the Code of Military Justice that should be taken into account, but rather its application in exceptional circumstances. Moreover, from the beginning of the case before the Commission, the Government of Venezuela stated in writing on August 8, 1990, that "the Chief of State has not intervened directly or indirectly in the Case in question [El Amparo], although he was empowered to do so by the Code of Military Justice. On the contrary, the President of the Republic has expressed his desire for the investigations to proceed without hindrance with a view to ascertaining the facts and punishing those responsible." Hence, far from admitting the fact of agreement or recognition with regard to the application of Article 54 of the Code of Military Justice, the Government expressly denied it. 4. That no reference was made to Judge Pérez Gutiérrez nor President Carlos Andrés Pérez in the briefs submitted by the Commission, the Government or the victims' representatives during the reparations phase. Instead, it was requested that the Code of Military Justice be reformed as one of the reparation measures on behalf of the victims. Only at the public hearing of January 27, 1996, did one of the victims' representatives state that President Carlos Andrés Pérez had "ordered cessation of the judgment against Ricardo Pérez Gutiérrez, the judge who had fabricated evidence to protect the officials involved", without submitting any evidence or explaining how this fact had influenced the El Amparo proceedings. 5. That, in view of the foregoing, the Court must conclude that the alleged application of the Code of Military Justice by the President of the Republic of Venezuela, Carlos Andrés Pérez, occurred, according to the original petitioners, "[in] the actions by Judge Ricardo Pérez Gutiérrez", in other words, in a Case other than the El Amparo Case, neither joined to it nor submitted to the Court, so that given the lack of submissions and evidence to the contrary, the aforementioned Judgment of September 14, 1996, duly stated that the power granted to the President of the Republic of Venezuela in Article 54 of the Code of Military Justice, "had not been applied in the instant case" and that "[the] military authorities initiated and continued proceedings against those responsible in the El Amparo Case and that the President of the Republic had never ordered the cessation or dismissal of the proceedings." NOW, THEREFORE: THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS, in exercise of the powers conferred to it by Article 29 of its Rules of Procedure,