law is binding on both sides, i.e. it governs the conduct of both the insurgents and for the government forces.... 4with what is noted previously, perhaps while the total application of international humanitarian law is not guaranteed in practice, the regulations were abundant; even if applied in their minimum expression they some human rights protection to all Salvadorans, as this legal framework existed, plus the vigilance and accompaniment given, in this process of protecting human rights, by professor Pastor Ridruejo, which determined that the State made available to the petitioners the guarantees and means for attaining an effective defense of their rights. 5 14. Based on this information, the State asks the IACHR to establish that there was “no systematic practice by the Salvadoran Armed Forces of disappearing minors.” 15. As regards the exhaustion of domestic remedies, the State adduces that they have not been exhausted. First, it notes that the petitioner filed the writ of habeas corpus in 2002, though it could have done so at any moment. The Salvadoran State indicates that in the judgment of February 17, 2003, the Court admitted the writ, determining that there had been a violation of the right to liberty. It notes that this remedy added that the protection of that court did not represent full reparation; accordingly, the action of other entities of the State is required, the Office of the Attorney General being the most suitable. 16. In this regard, the State indicates: The Office of the Attorney General undertook the investigations, to which end it recurred on the 27th [does not indicate the month] of 2003 to the Fifth Infantry Brigade in the city of San Vicente, where it met with various members of that Brigade, who stated as follows: “Lt. Col. Alas Zansur having explained that all the records of the operations carried out by members of the Fifth Infantry Brigade of this city in the 1980s and 1990s were sent to the General Archive of the Ministry of National Defense, since they are of historical value ... the above-mentioned persons having undertaken to provide guides, for the purpose of performing inspections in the hamlets noted, and thus try to locate family members of the disappeared minors....” 17. The State adds that there are other avenues for pursuing grievances, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, and that it was never used by the petitioners. 18. Finally, the Salvadoran State argues that the investigations are still open in the investigative phase, and that domestic remedies have not been exhausted, as per generally accepted principles of international law, and it asks that the IACHR declare the case inadmissible. The State reiterates that an investigation opened 20 years after the facts cannot be resolved with the promptness required, considering that the time elapsed prejudices the investigation and the evidence. Nonetheless, the State insists that it has proceeded with the diligence required. IV. ANALYSIS A. Competence of the Inter-American Commission ratione materiae, ratione materiae, ratione temporis, and ratione loci 19. In keeping with Article 44 of the American Convention, the petitioners have standing to bring a petition before the Commission. The petition that is the subject matter of the study indicates that the alleged victim was subject to the jurisdiction of the Salvadoran state at the time of the facts adduced. With respect to the State, the Commission notes that El Salvador is a state party to the American Convention, having deposited, in proper form, its instrument of 4 5 Response by the State of March 5, 2004, to the initial petition, p. 2. In its response of March 5, the State cites the report submitted by professor José Antonio Pastor Ridruejo to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, pursuant to the mandate granted by Resolution 1983/29 of that Commission, of January 19, 1984, in which the P.O.N. is determined to be in force [“Normal Operating Procedure for detentions by the Armed Forces”]. That procedure establishes that minors found should be taken to safe places. 4