notified on December 12, 2002.25 Based on the provisions of Article 46 of the Convention and Article 31 of the Rules of Procedure, the Commission finds that the requirement for prior exhaustion of domestic remedies has been satisfied with regard to the death sentence. 62. Regarding allegations of torture, the petitioners claim that they were denounced during the the trial of Mr. Ruiz Fuentes. The file indicates that Mr. Ruiz Fuentes revealed the alleged commission of acts of torture by the agents that arrested him.26 This allegation was considered by the court, and in the judgment of May 14, 1999,the Sixth Tribunal of Criminal Judgments, Drug Activities, and Crimes against the Environment concluded that it was untrue and that during the trial no evidence had been introduced to substantiate it.27 63. Concerning the exhaustion of remedies on this point, the petitioners argue that there was not a sufficient investigation of the facts because to date, more than ten years after they allegedly occurred, they have not been the subject of any legal proceeding. 64. The Commission holds that the information supplied by the petitioners, not disputed by the State, shows that the alleged victim had revealed to the judicial authority responsible for ruling in the proceeding in which he was charged that state agents had tortured him. The court found that the accused had not proved the alleged acts of torture. Considering that the appropriate authorities are responsible for investigating torture and that they were informed of torture by the alleged victim, the victim cannot be required to exhaust another series of actions or remedies, because it is not the victim’s responsibility to start a proceeding of this nature. The IACHR has held on other occasions that whenever the Commission investigates a crime that can be prosecuted by the State on its own initiative, the State has the obligation to move the criminal process forward to its final stages. 28 Furthermore, the InterAmerican Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture stipulates in Article 8 that “if there is an accusation or well-grounded reason to believe that an act of torture has been committed within their jurisdiction, the States Parties shall guarantee that their respective authorities will proceed properly and immediately to conduct an investigation in the case and to initiate, whenever appropriate, the corresponding criminal process.” 65. On this point, information received by the Commission does not indicate that of this date there has been a separate investigation or criminal process to address the complaint presented by Mr. Ruiz Fuentes during his trial. This constitutes an unwarranted delay under the terms of Article 46.2.c of the Convention and Article 31 of the Rules of Procedure, and it qualifies as an exception to the prior exhaustion of domestic remedies required by the Convention. 66. Finally, concerning the alleged summary execution, the petitioners argue that “there has been no substantive movement in the investigation…. There is no serious investigation of the facts and everything points to the existence of impunity,” 25 IACHR, Report on Merits 49/03, case 12.402 Ronald Ernesto Raxcacó Reyes, Guatemala, October 8, 2003, para. 29. 26 IACHR, Hugo Humberto Ruiz Fuentes – Petition 652/04, annexes: trial transcript. 27 IACHR, Hugo Humberto Ruiz Fuentes – Petition 652/04, annexes: Judgment handed down in the proceeding. 28 Report N° 62/00, Case 11.727, Annual Report of the IACHR, para. 24. 11