16. With respect to domestic remedies, the State points out that "all the steps ... to carry out the investigation effectively” have been taken, and that it is necessary to give the investigation time to run its course. In its comments of October 3, 2014, the State indicates that work is under way to update the investigation plan in the proceeding, in order to draw up a schedule to carry out the pending procedures for collecting evidence. The State also says that the petitioners have not exhausted the remedies under domestic law since the criminal proceeding is still at the investigation stage and none of the parties have requested a final decision “that would make it possible to bring charges and request a trial.” Based on the foregoing, the State requests that the Commission declare this petition inadmissible. IV. ANALYSIS OF COMPETENCE AND ADMISSIBILITY A. Competence of the Commission ratione personæ, ratione loci, ratione temporis and ratione materiæ 17. The petitioners have standing under Article 44 of the American Convention to lodge petitions with the IACHR. The petition names as alleged victims individuals on whose behalf the State of Guatemala undertook to respect and ensure the rights enshrined in the American Convention. Bearing in mind that the number of alleged victims of the various acts alleged in the petition is likely to change and taking into account the complexity of the process of properly identifying the alleged victims in this case, the IACHR takes note of the list submitted by the petitioners and will analyze it during the merits stage. 3 As regards the State, the Commission notes that Guatemala has been a party to the American Convention since May 25, 1978, when it deposited its instrument of ratification. Therefore, the Commission is competent ratione personae to examine the petition. The Commission is competent ratione loci to examine the petition because it alleges violations of rights protected in the American Convention that are purported to have occurred within the territory of Guatemala, a state party to said treaty. 18. The Commission is competent ratione temporis because the obligation to observe and ensure the rights protected in the American Convention was already binding upon the State at the time the events described in the petition are alleged to have occurred. Finally, the Commission has ratione materiae competence because the petition alleges violations of human rights protected by the American Convention. The Commission is also competent to take up the petition by virtue of the provisions of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, which the State of Guatemala ratified on February 25, 2000, and which provides that the crime of forced disappearance shall be deemed continuous or permanent as long as the fate or whereabouts of the victim has not been determined. B. Other requirements for admissibility of the petition 1. Exhaustion of domestic remedies 19. Article 46(1)(a) of the American Convention provides that, for the admissibility of a complainant submitted before the Inter-American Commission in accordance with Article 44 of the Convention, it is required that remedies under domestic law be pursued and exhausted in conformity with generally recognized principles of international law. This requirement is aimed at allowing national authorities to hear cases of an alleged violation of a protected right and, if appropriate, having the opportunity to resolve it before being heard by an international body. 20. For its part, Article 46(2) of the American Convention and Article 31(2) of the Commission's Rules of Procedure provide that the requirement of prior exhaustion of domestic remedies is not applicable when: (a) domestic law 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 3IACHR, Report No. 51/10, P. 1166-05, Admissibility, Tibú Massacres, Colombia, March 18, 2010, par. 102; IACHR, Report No. 13/08, P. 844-05, Admissibility, Community of Rio Negro of the Maya Indigenous People and Its Members, Guatemala, March 5, 2008, par. 60; IACHR Report No. 86/06, p. 499-04, Admissibility, Marino López et al. (Operation Genesis), Colombia, October 21, 2006, par. 34. 4