44. Article 46.1.a of the American Convention requires the prior exhaustion of the available domestic legal resources in accordance with generally recognized principles of international law, as a prerequisite for the admission of claims alleging violations of the American Convention. 45. Article 46.2 of the Convention states that the prior exhaustion of domestic remedies need not be required when: (a) the domestic legislation of the state concerned does not afford due process of law for the protection of the right or rights that have allegedly been violated; (b) the party alleging violation of his rights has been denied access to the remedies under domestic law or has been prevented from exhausting them; or (c) there has been unwarranted delay in rendering a final judgment under the aforementioned remedies. As the Inter-American Court has established, whenever a State claims that a petitioner has not exhausted the relevant domestic remedies, it is required to demonstrate that the remedies that have not been exhausted are “suitable” for remedying the alleged violation and that the function of those resources with the domestic legal system is applicable to protecting the violated juridical situation.28 46. In the instant case, the State claims that the petition does not satisfy the requirement regarding the prior exhaustion of the remedies offered by domestic jurisdiction set out in Article 46.1.a of the American Convention since three investigations are still pending. In turn, the petitioners hold that the exceptions provided in Article 46.2.a and c apply on account of the nonexistence of judicial resources for reporting the commission of the crime of forced displacement in 1997 and the unwarranted delay in the judicial clarification of all the facts described in the petition. 47. As indicated by the parties’ claims, almost a decade after the events described in the petition, of the three investigations that have not been precluded or sent to the archive, one is in the investigation phase and two are in the preliminary phase,29 without the investigation as yet having been formally opened. 48. The Commission notes that, as a general rule, a criminal investigation must be carried out promptly to protect the interests of the victims, to preserve the evidence, and also to safeguard the rights of all persons deemed suspects in the investigation. In this case, the time that has passed reduces the possibilities of an effective investigation. As the Inter-American Court has ruled, although all criminal investigations must meet a series of legal requirements, the ruling requiring the prior exhaustion of domestic remedies must not mean that international action in support of the victims is halted or delayed to the point of uselessness.30 49. Regarding the petitioners’ request for application of the exception provided for in Article 46.2.a, the State notes that although forced displacement was only criminalized in 2000, at the time of the incident there were other punishable acts that could have been used to 28 29 I/A Court H. R., Velásquez Rodríguez Case. Judgment of July 29, 1988. Series C No. 4, para. 64. Per Article 322 of Colombia’s Code of Criminal Procedure, that phase is intended to determine whether an incident reported to the authorities through any channels actually took place, whether it is punishable under criminal law, whether it took place under circumstances that would cause an absence of liability, and whether the processability requirements have been met for the commencement of criminal action and the gathering of the evidence needed to identify the perpetrators of the punishable act and/or the participants therein. It is, therefore, a stage that takes place prior to the investigation phase, which, in accordance with the law, has a maximum duration of six months. After that period, either a resolution opening investigation proceedings or writs of waiver must be issued, or, if the identity of the alleged perpetrator has not been established, a suspension must be ordered. Code of Criminal Procedure of Colombia, Law 600 of July 24, 2000, at http://www.unifr.ch/derechopenal/legislacion/co/cpp_colombia.htm, as of December 15, 2004 (hereinafter the “Code of Criminal Procedure”). 30 I/A Court H. R., Velásquez Rodríguez Case, Preliminary Objections. Judgment of June 26, 1987.Series C No. 1, para. 93. 11