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the Republic, because the former is the entity that functions as a link between human rights
bodies and the Federal Government. Thus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “would – by means of a
press release – publish the relevant parts of the judgment, which would be distributed on official
websites, including the social networks.” It also proposed that the publication be made, once, in
the Semanario Judicial de la Federación and the Federation’s Official Gazette.
344. The Court finds it pertinent to require, as it has in other cases, 453 that the State make the
following publications within six months of notification of this judgment: (a) the official summary
of the judgment prepared by the Court, once, in the Official Gazette, in a newspaper with
widespread national circulation, and in a widely read newspaper in the state of Mexico, in an
legible font and appropriate letter size, and (b) the entire judgment, available for at least one
year, on the websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the government of the state of Mexico,
in a way that is accessible to the public from the opening page of the said websites.
345. The State must inform the Court immediately when it has made each of the publications
required, regardless of the one-year time frame to present its first report established in the
operative paragraphs of this judgment.
D.2.b Act to acknowledge responsibility and offer a public apology
346. The representatives asked the Court, first, to order the Mexican State to offer the women
a public apology, at the same time undertaking to ensure that facts such as those of this case are
never repeated. In particular, they proposed that the apology be made “in an announcement to
be published by the same media in which the official summary of the Court’s judgment is
published, signed by the most senior representatives of the Federal Government and of the
government of the state of Mexico, and to be published on the same day, so that the judgment
provides a context to the apology.” The State indicated that it had already made a public
acknowledgement of its responsibility, and had issued a public apology to the victims in this case;
it therefore considered that the publication of the judgment was sufficient to respond to the
representative’s request.
347. This Court appreciates the acknowledgement of international responsibility made by the
State before the Commission and the Court, which could represent partial satisfaction for the
victims in light of the violations declared in this judgment.454 However, the Court finds it
necessary, in order to redress the harm caused to the victims and to avoid facts such as those of
this case being repeated, to require that Mexico organize a public act to acknowledge
international responsibility and make a public apology for the facts of this case.455 In particular,
Cf., inter alia, Case of Cantoral Benavides v. Peru. Reparations and costs. Judgment of December 3, 2001. Series C
No. 88, para. 79; Case of Mémoli v. Argentina. Preliminary objections, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of August
22, 2013. Series C No. 265, para. 207; Case of Andrade Salmón v. Bolivia. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of
December 1, 2016. Series C No. 330, para. 197; Case of Favela Nova Brasília v. Brazil. Preliminary objections, merits,
reparations and costs. Judgment of February 16, 2017. Series C No. 333, para. 300, and Case of López Soto et al. v.
Venezuela. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of September 26, 2018. Series C No. 362, para. 299.
453
Cf. Case of Rodríguez Vera et al. (Disappeared from the Palace of Justice) v. Colombia. Preliminary objections,
merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of November 14, 2014. Series C No. 287, para. 576, and Case of López Soto et
al. v. Venezuela. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of September 26, 2018. Series C No. 362, para. 303.
454
Cf. Case of Tibi v. Ecuador. Preliminary objections, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of September 7, 2004.
Series C No. 114, para. 261; Case of Gutiérrez and family v. Argentina. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of
November 25, 2013. Series C No. 271, para. 158; Case of García Cruz and Sánchez Silvestre v. Mexico. Merits,
reparations and costs. Judgment of November 26, 2013. Series C No. 273, para. 285; Case of Véliz Franco et al. v.
Guatemala. Preliminary objections, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of May 19, 2014. Series C No. 277, para.
257; Case of the Landaeta Mejías Brothers et al. v. Venezuela. Preliminary objections, merits, reparations and costs.
455