and their right to freedom of association; Programa de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad Iberoamericana (Human Rights Program of the Ibero-American University), 17 regarding the prohibition to assess evidence obtained under torture and without judicial oversight; International Forensic Program of Physicians for Human Rights, 18 on non-compliance with the international requirements regarding the evidence of sodium rhodizonate; EarthRights International, 19 on the human rights abuses carried out in the context of communities’ resistance to extractive industries; and the Environmental Defender Law Center, 20 on the serious situation faced by Mexican environmentalists, the international acknowledgment of environmental defenders and the violation of the rights of Messrs. Cabrera and Montiel. 10. The public hearing was held on August 26 and 27, 2010 during the Court’s Eighty-eighth Regular Period of Sessions, at the Court’s seat. 21 During the hearing the judges asked a number of questions and requested evidence to facilitate adjudication of the case. 22 17 The brief was filed on September 10, 2010 by Vanessa Coria Castilla, Sandra Salcedo González and José Antonio Ibañez on behalf of the Human Rights Program of the Ibero-American University. 18 The brief was filed on September 9, 2010 by Ronald L. Singer and Stefan Schmitt on behalf of the International Forensic Program of Physicians for Human Rights. 19 The brief was filed on September 9, 2010 by Jonathan Kaufman and Marco Simons on behalf of EarthRights International. 20 The brief was filed on August 12, 2010 by Nicholas Hesterberg on behalf of the Environmental Defender Law Center. 21 The following individuals appeared at this hearing: a) on behalf of the Inter-American Commission: Rodrigo Escobar Gil, Commissioner; Karla Quintana Osuna, legal advisor, and Silvia Serrano Guzmán, legal advisor; b) on behalf of the representatives: Luis Arriaga Valenzuela, S.J. Centro Prodh, Stephanie Erin Brewer and Jaqueline Sáenz Andujo, from Centro Prodh; Alejandra Nuño, Agustín Martin, Luis Carlos Buob, Gisela De León and Marcia Aguiluz, from CEJIL and c) on behalf of the State: Minister Alejandro Negrín Muñoz, Director General of Human Rights and Democracy of the Foreign Affairs Secretariat; Ambassador Zadalinda González y Reynero, State Agent and Ambassador of Mexico in Costa Rica; Mrs. Yéssica De Lamadrid Téllez, Director General for International Cooperation of the Juridical Under-Secretariat and International Affairs of the Attorney General’s Office; Mr. Carlos Garduño Salinas, Assistant Director General for Cases of the Unity for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights of the Secretariat of the Interior; Brigade General J.M. and Mr. Rogelio Rodríguez Correa, Subdirector of International Affairs of the General Direction of Human Rights of the National Defense Secretariat; Mr. José Ignacio Martín del Campo Covarrubias, Director of the International Litigation Area in Human Rights of the Foreign Affairs Secretariat; Mr. David Ricardo Uribe González, Subdirector of the International Litigation Area in Human Rights of the Foreign Affairs Secretariat; Mr. Enrique Paredes Frías, Subdirector of International Litigation Area in Human Rights of the Foreign Affairs Secretariat; Mr. Luis Manuel Jardón Piña, Head of the Litigation Department of the Legal Advisory Department of the Foreign Affairs Secretariat; and Mr. Rafael Barceló Durazo, Diplomatic Attaché for Political and Human Rights Affairs of the Embassy of Mexico in Costa Rica. 22 On September 13, 2010, following the full Court’s instructions, the Secretariat forwarded a communication to all the parties containing some of the questions asked by the Judges of the Court at the public hearing, concerning: i) The presence of the Armed Forces in Guerrero: a) the existence of a specific, well-grounded and reasoned request by the civilian authorities for the military forces to intervene at the scene of the events and b) further information about the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Justice of Mexico in relation to the role of the Armed Forces in matters of public security; ii) the detention of the alleged victims: c) the legal framework governing the authority of the military forces to arrest and/or detain civilians, d) a detailed description of events following the arrest of Messrs. Montiel Flores and Cabrera García until they were brought before a judge or a competent authority, explaining if applicable, the excessive time in reasonable terms, and e) information and evidence about the alleged flyers that the alleged victims were distributing and the activities they were allegedly carrying out on the day of their arrest; iii) The weapons allegedly seized from the alleged victims at the time of their arrest: f) record or records of confiscation of weapons when Messrs. Cabrera García and Montiel Flores were arrested, the type of weapons found and their exact number, the final judicial decisions regarding the alleged victims’ responsibility for carrying such weapons and which weapons prompted the corresponding criminal investigation. In the event of any contradictions in some of the records, specific arguments regarding these, g) information about Mexican legislation on the classification of weapons in terms of their danger to public security, h) information on the validity and appropriateness of the sodium rhodizonate test to prove the use or handling of weapons, i) information and arguments regarding the alleged contradictions stemming from the sodium rhodizonate test in this case, and j) 7