7 V ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY 28. In this section, the Court will determine the scope of the State’s acknowledgement of international responsibility in this case and, to this end, it will take into account the arguments of the Commission, the representatives of the alleged victim, and the State. 29. On August 9, 2000, while the case was being processed by the Commission, and in the context of the visit of the President of the Inter-American Commission to Guatemala, the President of the Republic “acknowledge[d] the institutional responsibility of the State arising from non-compliance [with the] provision of Article 1(1) of the American Convention that it respect and ensure the rights embodied in the Convention and Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Guatemalan Constitution”; he also stated that “[…] in view of the foregoing, the Government of Guatemala acknowledge[d] that the facts that gave rise to the presentation of the petitions to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights had occurred[…].”11 30. In the answer to application, the State referred to this declaration and “acknowledge[d] the occurrence of the facts and institutional responsibility.” The State also requested that: an alternative to friendly settlement be established in this case; [and] should this proposal not be accepted […], that the respective judgment be delivered without the need for hearings or any other type of proceeding, in order to apply the principles of procedural economy and promptness. 31. On February 20 and 21, 2003, during the public hearing held on this case, the witnesses, expert witness, the Commission, the representatives of the alleged victim, and the State referred to the merits of the case and to possible reparations. 32. On February 21, 2003, during the public hearing, the State emphasized that the “acknowledgement was based on the omission in which the State incurred as regards its obligation to ensure to all persons the enjoyment and respect of their fundamental rights in accordance with the Convention, its Constitution, and other international instruments signed by Guatemala.” At the same hearing, it repeated that “the Government of Guatemala acknowledge[d] that the facts that gave rise to the submission of [the] application to the Court had occurred.” The State also indicated that: […] the Government of the Republic of Guatemala, the representative of the National Unity Party, and the person who then presided the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights signed a statement in which, in representation of the State, its institutional responsibility was acknowledged; and, as the representative of the Commission has indicated, this gave rise to the non-compliance incurred by contravening Articles 1(1), 2 and 3 of the American Convention on Human Rights. 33. During the same public hearing, the State indicated that, although it was true that “at the time when the facts occurred, there was repressive political violence in Guatemala, in the absence of any other direct evidence, the mere verification of this 11 Cf. “Declaration of the Government of the Republic of Guatemala regarding the cases submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights” of August 9, 2000, Presidency of the Republic, Presidential Commission for Coordinating Executive Policy in the Field of Human Rights (file of attachments to the petition, attachment 14, folios 98 to 103).