4 rejection of so-called “self-imposed amnesties” issued to protect a group of individuals associated with the powers that be.” The State provided statistics on the number of judgments, acquittals, and convictions on charges of forced disappearance of persons handed down by the National Criminal Court between 2004 and 2010, during which time eight people had been convicted and 64 acquitted. The State stressed that the Office of the Attorney General and the Judiciary “are performing the functions assigned to them and fully observing international human rights standards, investigating, prosecuting, and trying the accused. Considering the complexity of the cases, their performance has gradually improved in recent years.” 17. With regard to the criminal proceedings on the alleged forced disappearance of Mr. Antezana Cueto, the State indicated that on April 28, 2010, the Third Criminal Court “Supraprovincial” indicted former Chief of the contra subversive Military Base of Acobamba as alleged perpetrator of the crime of enforced disappearance. IV. ANALYSIS OF COMPETENCE AND ADMISSIBILITY A. Competence ratione personae, ratione loci, ratione temporis and ratione materiae of the Commission 18. The petitioners are entitled under Article 44 of the Convention to lodge complaints. The alleged victim is an individual who was under the jurisdiction of the Peruvian State at the time of the alleged facts. For its part, Peru ratified the American Convention on July 28, 1978. Accordingly, the IACHR is competent ratione personae to examine the petition. 19. The Commission is competent ratione loci to take cognizance of the petition since it alleges violations of rights protected by the American Convention that are said to have taken place in the territory of a State Party to said treaty. 20. The Commission is competent ratione materiae, because, as will be explained below, the petition alleges facts that could qualify as violation of rights protected under the American Convention, the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons (hereinafter “ICFDP”), for which the instrument of ratification was deposited by Peru on February 13, 2002, and the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture (hereinafter “ICPPT”), for which the instrument of ratification was deposited by Peru on March 28, 1991. 21. Finally, the Commission is competent ratione temporis because the obligation to respect and guarantee the rights protected by the American Convention was already in force for the State on the date the facts alleged. The IACHR emphasizes that, although the arrest of Mr. Antezana Cueto and the torture perpetrated on him allegedly occurred in May 1984, according to inter-American jurisprudence, the effects of a forced disappearance and the obligation to respond to acts of torture have an ongoing nature. Accordingly, and in view of the petitioners’ statements that the Peruvian State still has not determined the whereabouts of Santiago Antezana Cueto, punished or made reparation for the deeds denounced before this international body, the IACHR is competent ratione temporis to take cognizance of possible failure to comply with obligations under the ICFDP and the ICPPT. B. Exhaustion of domestic remedies 22. Article 46(1)(a) of the American Convention provides that for a petition filed before the Inter-American Commission to be admissible pursuant to Article 44 of the Convention, an attempt must have been made to exhaust domestic remedies in accordance with the generally accepted principles of international law. The purpose of this requirement is to enable national authorities to take cognizance of the alleged violation of a protected right and, where appropriate, have an opportunity to remedy it before it is examined by an international body. 23. The prior exhaustion requirement applies when the national system truly provides available recourse to properly and effectively remedy the alleged violation. In that connection, Article 46(2) stipulates that such requirement shall not apply when the domestic law of the state concerned does