4 II COMPETENCE 7. Paraguay has been a State party to the American Convention since August 24, 1989, and accepted the Court’s contentious jurisdiction on March 26, 1993. The Court is, therefore, competent to hear the present case under the terms of Articles 62 and 63(1) of the Convention. III PROCEEDING BEFORE THE COMMISSION 8. On August 14, 1996, the Center for Justice and International Law (hereinafter “CEJIL” or “the representatives”) and the Fundación Tekojojá filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Commission” or “the Inter-American Commission”). 9. The Commission opened the case on August 27, 1996, and classified it as No. 11,666. 10. On April 27, 1997, the petitioners indicated their willingness to work toward a friendly settlement. Therefore, on May 8 of that year the Commission made itself available to the parties with a view to arriving at a friendly settlement. 11. The parties met several times during the friendly settlement process. During its sessions, the Commission itself held three hearings in connection with this attempt at a friendly settlement. 12. During the course of one friendly-settlement meeting at Commission headquarters on March 23, 1999, the State pledged to present a timetable on the measures being taken to permanently close the ‘Panchito López’ Center. The Commission conducted an in loco visit to Paraguay from July 28 to July 30, 1999. In July 1999, the State presented a timetable of activities aimed at the Center’s definitive closing. According to that plan, the alleged victims were to have been permanently transferred by late November of that year. 13. The first fire at the Center broke out on February 11, 2000. On March 20, 2000 the State sent the Commission a report on the fire, in response to a request the Commission made on February 24 of that year. 14. During the course of the friendly settlement proceeding, on April 4, 2000, Paraguay informed the Commission that forty children had been transferred to the Centro Educativo Integral Itauguá [Itauguá Comprehensive Education Center]. 15. On October 10, 2000, during its 108th regular session, the Commission held another hearing where the State once again pledged to permanently close the ‘Panchito López’ Center, this time within six months of the date of the hearing. The Commission informed it that if by the end of that six-month period the Center had not been permanently shut down, the Commission would terminate its intervention as organ of friendly settlement and proceed to process the case in accordance with the Convention. 16. The Commission held another hearing on March 1, 2001, on the heels of a second fire at the Center on February 5, 2001. At that hearing, Paraguay pledged,