5 25. The State mentioned that on February 27, the Criminal Enforcement Court of San Pedro Sula issued a warrant for the arrest of Regalado Hernández, which had not been executed because he was out of the country. In that regard, the State mentioned that the Third Lower Court for Criminal Matters issued Marco Tulio Regalado Hernández a “letter of unconditional release” on March 30, 2004, because the judgment “was final,” despite the fact that on March 23, 2004, the Public Prosecution Service had lodged an appeal against the acquittal. 26. In light of the foregoing, the State recognized “that approximately 15 years elapsed between January 29, 1983, when the deed against Mr. Herminio Deras was committed, and July 13, 1988, when the facts were denounced for a second time. In that time there was silence on the part of the State (jurisdictional authority) regarding the duty to investigate in order to safeguard the right to truth and justice.”4 It said that reasonable time limits were exceeded owing to prolonged spells of inactivity in processing the case by the judicial authorities, and that between 1983, when the deed occurred, and 2007, when the last instance was exhausted, 24 years elapsed. It also noted that coupled with the foregoing is the fact that "during the processing of the case the accused was left at liberty, precluding his conviction from being enforced.” It also indicated that there was a “close connection” between this fact and the possibilities of reparation for the Deras family. 27. As regards the facts alleged by the petitioners to have occurred before and since the death of Mr. Herminio Deras, which purportedly affected the Deras family, the State noted that “it was precisely the investigation of those facts and of the death of Mr. Deras, as well as the initiation of the judicial proceeding, that led to the conviction of Marco Tulio Regalado Hernández for the murder of Herminio Deras.”5 28. With respect to the alleged violations of rights contained in the American Convention, the State indicated that the deprivation of Herminio Deras’ right to life was a proven fact. It said the same with respect to freedom of association, freedom of expression, and the right to citizen security on account of the involvement of agents of the state in the alleged violations. Regarding the allegations of restrictions on freedom of association and freedom of expression, the State specified that the agents of the State had acted as they did because Mr. Deras was a trade union leader and a member of the Communist Party of Honduras. By the same token, it mentioned that Mr. Deras’ murder had occurred in a context of enforcement of a national security policy that was incompatible with respect for human rights. 29. In later briefs, the State referred to its compliance with the obligations contained in Article 8 of the American Convention. In that regard, it reiterated information concerning the domestic judicial proceeding and the judicial decisions adopted therein. In that connection, it held that the domestic judicial proceeding had been the recourse that had made it possible to investigate and clarify the facts surrounding the death of Herminio Deras and establish the responsibility of the persons involved, specifically through the murder convictions imposed on Marco Tulio Regalado Hernández. IV. ANALYSIS OF COMPETENCE AND ADMISSIBILITY A. Competence of the Commission ratione materiae, ratione personae, ratione temporis, 4 First response of the State, received on June 7, 2010. 5 Emphasis in the original.