one of the leaders of the local drug trafficking ring, and finally grabbed him and threatened to kill him. The police also injured J.F.C. by beating her on the legs and stomach. 7. The petitioners also allege that the same police raided another trafficker's house and, as they were firing when they went in, they killed Adriano Silva Donato and Alan Kardec de Oliveira, whose bodies were dragged outside and taken to the main town square. Immediately afterwards, police dragged Clemilson dos Santos from his house and allegedly summarily executed him in the same square. 8. According to the petitioners' version, a second group of police raided a house and allegedly summarily executed Sergio Mendes Oliveira, Fabio Henrique Vieira, and Evandro de Oliveira, the last of whom was shot in both eyes. The police then raided another house and killed Robson Genuino dos Santos, Ramilson José de Souza, and Alberto dos Santos Ramos. 9. The petitioners also allege that a group of 10 police raided another house, in which C.S.S., L.R.J., and André Luiz Neri Silva were present, and some of the police sexually abused C.S.S. and L.R.J.. In addition, the police beat L.R.J. and André in order to extract information on the whereabouts of one of the leaders of the local trafficking ring. The police then took André, whose body was later found in the main square with the other bodies. 10. The petitioners state that the police operation ended at 9:30 a.m. with fourteen (14) of the alleged traffickers dead. 11. The petitioners state that police inquiry Nº 184/94 was begun on October 18, 1994, by the Narcotics Enforcement Commission to establish the irregularities in the actions of the police. At the same time, the Rio de Janeiro government established a special commission to oversee investigations (Inquiry Nº 52/94), which were conducted by the Ombudsman for the Civil Police and the Delegacia Especial contra a Tortura e Abuso de Autoridade (DETAA) [Special Commission against Torture and Abuse of Authority]. The petitioners state that inquiry Nº 52/94, conducted by the DETAA, concluded that the police had summarily executed individuals and committed other abuses but that, in the course of investigations, none of the aggressors identified by the victims gave evidence or were arrested. 12. The petitioners state that the Public Prosecutor, Maria Inês Pimentel, who was responsible for following-up on Inquiries Nº 184/94 and Nº 52/94, systematically refused to provide any information regarding those inquiries. 13. The petitioners state that, under Article 10 of the Brazilian Penal Code, 30 days are allowed for completion of police inquiries, which may be extended, with judicial authorization, for an additional 30 days. The petitioners state that, in this case, the inquiries begun to establish the events that transpired in Nova Brasília favela were not concluded until November 1998, when additional information was sent in, that is, four years after the inquiries were initiated. 14. With respect to exhaustion of domestic remedies, the petitioners affirm that the petition is admissible on the grounds of the unwarranted delay under domestic remedies, Article 46(2)(c). The petitioners add that the four-year delay in conducting the police inquiry, without any of the corresponding criminal charges having been brought against the perpetrators, demonstrates that domestic remedies are ineffective in redressing the violations of human rights in this case. B. Position of the State 15. In response to the allegations of the petitioners, the Brazilian State stated: 2. The version of events based on information collected by the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the state of Rio de Janeiro in fact coincides with that of the petitioners in that the murders were the result of repressive action–a veritable war operation, involving 110 police from the Narcotics Enforcement Division of Police Station Nº 21 and other units of the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro–to destroy a drug trafficking ring that 2