"Agreement on the Establishment of the Commission to Clarify Past Human Rights Violations and Acts of Violence that have Caused the Guatemalan Population to Suffer." The mandate of that Commission is to clarify acts of violence linked with the conflict, without prejudice to the ability of the victims to pursue criminal remedies. While the State notes that the CEH is not empowered to exercise a judicial function, it does constitute a "national instance" and would issue considerations with respect to institutional responsibility for past human rights violations. 20. The State indicates that the gravity of the harm suffered as a result of the events at Plan de Sánchez is evident. However, it maintains that it is unable to address the alleged participation of the Guatemalan military, because the Constitution of Guatemala attributes the exclusive competence to examine evidence and issue conclusions with respect to individual responsibility to the judiciary. 21. With respect to the admissibility of the case before the Commission, the State maintains that the petitioners failed to exhaust domestic remedies as required. In its response to the petition, the State reported that: the events denounced were pending before the Public Ministry in process No. 291-94; the Court of First Instance of Cobán, Alta Verapaz, was seized of processes 391-93 and 344-95; and the Public Ministry was awaiting the results of ballistics tests it had requested. The State affirms that its legal system provides for the norms and procedures that guarantee the administration of justice, and maintains that recourse to the inter-American system is therefore inappropriate in this case. It indicates that the petitioners should present their claims before the appropriate judicial authorities in order to participate actively in the domestic proceedings, which include the legal measures to challenge decisions with which they disagree. The State further alleges that the petition was filed beyond the time limit set forth in the Convention and the Regulations of the Commission. IV. ANALYSIS A. Competence of the Commission 22. In accordance with its mandate, the Commission is competent to examine the subject matter of this complaint, as it concerns alleged violations of Articles 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 19, 21, 24 and 25 of the American Convention. The State of Guatemala has been a party to that Convention since its ratification of May 25, 1978, and the allegations at issue concern alleged events subsequent to that date. The Convention entered into force for all parties on July 18, 1978. The petitioners have locus standi to appear pursuant to the terms of Article 44 of the Convention. In their submissions, the petitioners have stated claims which, if consistent with other requirements and shown to be true, could tend to establish the violation of a right protected by the American Convention. B. Requirements to Admit a Petition 23. The petition includes the information required by Article 32 of the Commission’s Regulations, and meets the conditions set forth in Article 46(1)(c) of the American Convention and Article 39 of the Commission’s Regulations, as it is neither pending settlement in another international inter-governmental proceeding, nor essentially duplicative of a petition pending or previously considered by the Commission. 3 Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies 24. Article 46 of the American Convention specifies that, in order for a case to be admitted, "remedies under domestic law [must] have been pursued and exhausted in accordance with generally recognized principles of international law." This requirement exists to ensure the 3 This norm concerns proceedings of an international governmental nature. The work conducted by the CEH does not implicate this provision, nor have the parties alleged that it does. The CEH is an independent institution created by the Guatemalan Peace Accords to investigate and report on the human rights violations and acts of violence committed in connection with the armed conflict. The CEH recently issued a final report on the results of its investigations and the causes which gave rise to the conflict, as well as recommendations aimed at ensuring the non-repetition of such violations. 4