5 f) there are bateys in Barahona only, on the Dominican-Haitian border, where 70% of the community is Dominican and the remaining 30% comes during the sugar cane harvest and they are contracted. CONSIDERING: 1. The Dominican Republic is a State Party to the American Convention (hereinafter “the American Convention” or “the Convention”) since April 19, 1978, and acknowledged the Court's jurisdiction, pursuant to Article 62 of the Convention, on March 25, 1999. 2. Article 63(2) of the American Convention provides that, in cases of extreme seriousness and urgency, and when irreparable damage to people needs to be prevented, the Court, in the matters it is hearing, will be able to take the provisional measures it deems relevant. 3. Under the terms of 25(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court: [a]t any stage of the proceeding, provided they are cases of extreme seriousness and urgency and when irreparable damage to people need to be prevented, the Court, by the powers invested in it or at the request of one of the parties, shall be able to order the provisional measures it deems relevant, under Article 63(2) of the Convention. 4. Article 1(1) of the Convention provides for the duty of States Party to respect the rights and freedoms recognized in this treaty and to guarantee their free and full exercise to all persons subject to its jurisdiction. 5. The information submitted by the Commission in its petition (supra Having seen 2) and its reports about the current situation of Rafaelito Pérez Charles and Berson Gelim demonstrate prima facie an extremely serious and urgent situation regarding the rights to life, personal integrity, circulation, and residence of said persons, as well as the right to special protection of children in the family, in the case of Berson Gelim. 6. The Court has established that it is the State’s responsibility “to adopt security measures to protect all of the people that are under its jurisdiction; this duty becomes more evident with regards to those who are linked to processes before the supervision organs of the American Convention”4 7. It is the duty of the Dominican Republic to continue the follow-up of the investigation that has already been initiated by the competent authorities to contact and protect Rafaelito Pérez Charles and Berson Gelim. 8. The Decision of the President of the Court of September 14, 2000 was adjusted to the merits of the facts and circumstances and adopted according to the laws, all of which justified the adoption of some urgent measures, and it is ratified by this Court in all its terms. 4 cf. inter alia, Decision of the President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of October 28, 1996. Provisional Measures in the Giraldo Cardona Case, seventh whereas clause; Decision of the President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of March 23, 1998, in the Clemente Teherán et al. Case, seventh whereas clause; Decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of November 17, 1999, Provisional Measures of the Digna Ochoa y Plácido et al. Case, seventh whereas clause, and Decision of the President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of April 7, 2000, Urgent Measures in the Constitutional Court Case, ninth considering clause and supra considering clause 9.