the Criminal Tribunal for Superior Officers of the National Police issued a judgment at first instance in which it sentenced Carlos Eduardo Rivera Enríquez to eight years of imprisonment. The sentence was twice appealed and confirmed at the third instance on February 25, 2003, by the National Court Police Justice. 20 By means of an interlocutory order dated June 11, 2003, the Second National Police District Court ordered the location and capture of Carlos Eduardo Rivera Enríquez so that he might be made to serve the prison sentence imposed,21 which, as of the adoption of the instant report, had not occurred. 31. Furthermore, based on a complaint, the inspection of the corpse and the autopsy conducted on it, and a report submitted by the Chief of Judicial Police of Guayas, a criminal case was brought against José Francisco Bone Franco and Willer Keller Lara Valencia, on which a decision is pending before the Third Criminal Court of Guayas. In sum, the facts that comprise the subject matter of the petition have been presented both before the police courts where an agent of the National Police, who remains at large, was found responsible, and before the ordinary courts where a decision on the responsibility of the accused is pending. 32. The state argues that the petitioners’ complaint does not meet the requirement of prior exhaustion of domestic remedies provided at Article 46(1) of the American Convention because at the time that the petition was lodged a final decision was still pending in the proceeding before the police courts. For their part, the petitioners hold that the exceptions to the rule of prior exhaustion of domestic remedies are applicable due to the unwarranted delay in trying the case and because the only agent of the state actually convicted for the death of Joffre Antonio Aroca Palma is not serving his sentence. 33. The Commission has consistently held that special jurisdictions, like those of the military or the police, do not constitute an appropriate forum to investigate, judge and punish violations of rights recognized in the American Convention allegedly committed by members of the public security forces.22 Consequently, the prosecution in the police jurisdiction of members of the National Police involved in acts connected with the death of a civilian does not constitutes a suitable remedy within the meaning of Article 46(1)(a) of the American Convention. 34. The Commission further notes that the proceeding instituted in the ordinary jurisdiction against two other agents of the state thought to be implicated in the events is still pending a decision by the Third Criminal Court of Guayas more than eight years after the facts occurred. In the case of publicly actionable offenses that require an ex officio investigation on the part of the criminal authorities, the State has an obligation to conduct and complete said investigation. As regards a civil suit for damages suggested as suitable by the petitioners, the Commission notes that, on principle, it does not serve to clarify criminal responsibility or to remedy what the petitioners allege to be a an unwarranted delay that has resulted in a denial of justice. 35. In view of the foregoing, as regards the proceeding instituted in the police jurisdiction, the situation charged by the petitioners is consistent with the exception to the rule of prior exhaustion of domestic remedies provided at Article 20 Judgment of the National Court Police Justice, February 25, 2003. Annex to the petitioners’ brief received at the IACHR on June 18, 2003. 21 Ruling of the Second National Police District Court, Criminal Case No. 011-2001, June 11, 2003. Annex to the petitioners’ brief received at the IACHR on June 28, 2003. 22 IACHR, Report on Admissibility No. 11/02, Joaquín Hernández Alvarado et al., Ecuador, February 27, 2002, para. 18. 8