to the petition within two months time. The State replied on August 29, 2003, within the 30 day extension granted by the Commission for this purpose. The pertinent sections of the response were transmitted to the petitioners on September 11, 2003, and on November 25, 2003 the petitioners filed their comments regarding the State’s response. On March 17, 2004, the State presented additional information, which was transmitted to the petitioners. The petitioners presented their observations on April 26. Subsequently, each party presented further additional information that was transmitted to the other, respectively, in a timely fashion. III. A. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES The petitioners 6. The petitioners assert that on October 18, 1997, at approximately 6:30 p.m., when Mr. Carlos Escaleras Mejía was returning to his business from a political meeting of his party, two men came out of the shadows and shot him twice in the back. They state that Mr. Escaleras was taken to the CEMECO clinic, where care could not be provided for him. He then was taken to a hospital in La Ceiba where he underwent surgery. He did not survive the operation, however, dying during the early morning hours. 7. The petitioners allege that Mr. Escaleras was one of the most recognized leaders of the Aguán Valley. He was a leader of several organizations, such as the Comité para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos en Honduras (CODEH) [Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras], the Frente Común de Patronatos [Common Front of Local Citizen Organizations] and the Coordinadora de Organizaciones Populares (COPA) [Coordinating Committee of Peoples’ Organizations], the latter being where his work had the greatest impact. Through this organization he became involved with other community and environmental organizations. These movements enjoyed a high degree of credibility because of their strong activism in defense of human rights. One of the important facets of his struggle was to denounce and oppose the activities of companies that harmed the environment and the valley’s ecosystem with their dumping of toxic substances into rivers. According to depositions on judicial record, as a consequence of his actions, he was pressured and threatened with bodily harm and with death, threats that ended with his murder.1 According to these 1 Judicial proceedings, DGIC investigation, page 161, section 3. The petitioners state that “the complaint against the African palm oil extracting plant caused 2