3 military service and copies of the legislation governing it, as well as reports of the visits by the Congressional Committee on Human Rights to military units in July 2001 to investigate general allegations of recruitment of minors in the armed forces.1 15. The State reported that Federal Executive Decree N° 12.229 of January 14, 1996, promoted Vicente Ariel Noguera posthumously to the next higher grade, and a decree on February 2, 1996, promoted him to Reserve Second Lieutenant. It said that Federal Executive Decree N° 17.506 of June 13, 1997, awarded a monthly pension of 892.000 guaranís to Ms. María Ramona Noguera Domínguez as the legitimate heir of Vicente Ariel Noguera. It also said that in an interlocutory order of October 27, 1997, the Military Lower Court had dismissed the case in its entirety and ordered the proceedings archived. 16. With its note of September 16, 2004, the State sent copies of the principal actions held in the judicial proceeding “Request for judicial investigation requested by María Ramona Noguera,” opened in 1996. It said that all due diligence had been taken in the investigation, including the hearing of testimonies and the exhumation of the corpse in September 1996, and that the cause of death had been determined to be “acute intersticial pneumonitis of a viral type, with no signs of trauma.” The case was archived by resolution of November 6, 2002, pursuant to Article 7 of Law 1444/99, which stipulates that “in proceedings with an unidentified accused, the court shall order the case to be archived, unless within a period of six months the Public Prosecutor’s Office or the parties submit motions or conduct pertinent acts or investigations to keep it open.” 17. The State said that Paraguay ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 2002, so as of the date of facts, there was no prohibition against military service under the age of 18. It noted advances in Paraguayan legislation with respect to the draft law that would amend Laws Nº 569/75 on Compulsory Military Service, and 123/52 on the Reserve Officers Military Training (CIMEFOR). That draft law included a total ban on military service by minors under 18. 18. Based on the arguments presented, the Paraguayan State asked the Commission to archive the instant case. IV. ANALYSIS OF ADMISSIBILITY A. Commission’s competence ratione materiae, ratione personae, ratione temporis, and ratione loci 19. Article 44 of the American Convention provides that “Any person or group of persons, or any nongovernmental entity legally recognized in one or more member states of the Organization, may lodge petitions with the Commission containing denunciations or complaints of violation of this Convention by a State Party.” The petitioner is therefore eligible to submit a petition to the Inter-American Commission. Hence, the IACHR has ratione personae competence for this case. 20. The State of Paraguay has been a State Party to the American Convention since August 24, 1989, date on which it deposited its instrument of ratification. The petitioner, for her part, alleges violations of rights established in the American Convention. The IACHR therefore has ratione materiae competence for the instant case. 21. The Inter-American Commission has ratione loci competence, given that the alleged violations of human rights occurred in a State Party to the American Convention. Similarly, the Commission has ratione temporis competence because the American Convention was in force for the Paraguayan State when the facts alleged in the petition were said to have occurred. B. Other requirements for the admissibility of the petition 1 In analyzing those reports, the Commission noted that the petitioner, representing AFAVISEM, accompanied the Congressional Committee on the visits, along with representatives of SERPAJ and CEJIL.