-5- 15. The note of the Secretariat of January 25, 2007, whereby, following the President’s instructions, the Commission was informed that it was not possible to satisfy its request (supra Having Seen clause No. 14) given that the period for the submission of comments on the communication of the State (supra Having Seen clause No. 12) was independent of the submission of comments by the representatives of the beneficiaries. 16. The communication of January 25, 2007, whereby the State submitted a compact disc containing pictures of the prison centers where the beneficiaries are held. CONSIDERING: 1. That Guatemala has been a State Party to the American Convention since May 25, 1978, and accepted the contentious jurisdiction of the Court on March 9, 1987. 2. That Article 63(2) of the American Convention provides that “[i]n cases of extreme gravity and urgency, and when necessary to avoid irreparable damage to persons, the Court shall adopt such provisional measures as it deems pertinent in matters it has under consideration. With regard to a case not yet submitted to the Court, it may act at the request of the Commission.” 3. That Article 1(1) of the Convention establishes the general obligation of the States Parties to respect the rights and freedoms enshrined therein and to ensure to all persons subject to their jurisdiction the free and full exercise of those rights and freedoms. 4. That provisional measures are exceptional in nature; they are adopted on the basis of the need for protection and, once ordered, they shall remain effective as long as the Court deems that the basic requirements of extreme gravity and urgency and the need to prevent irreparable damage to the rights of the persons protected by them continue to be satisfied.1 5. That, pursuant to Article 63(2) of the Convention, it is mandatory for the State to adopt such provisional measures as this Court may order, insofar as the basic principle of the Law of State Responsibility, upheld by international case law, provides that States must fulfill their treaty obligations in good faith (pacta sunt servanda).2 6. That, pursuant to Article 68(1) of the American Convention, “[t]he States Parties to the Convention undertake to comply with the judgment of the Court in any 1 Cf. Case of the Plan de Sánchez Massacre. Urgent Measures. Order of the President of the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights of November 25, 2006, Considering clause No. 8; Matter of Carlos Nieto et al. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of September 22, 2006, Considering clause No. 6; and Matter of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation. Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of July 4, 2006, Considering clause No. 7. 2 Cf. Case of the Plan de Sánchez Massacre, supra note 1, Considering clause No. 9; Matter persons imprisoned in the "Dr. Sebastião Martins Silveira" Penitentiary in Araraquara, São Paulo, Provisional Measures. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of September 30, Considering clause No. 19; and Case of the 19 Tradesmen. Provisional Measures. Order of the American Court of Human Rights of July 4, 2006, Considering clause No. 16. of the Brazil. 2006, Inter-