41 137. In its response to the original petition, the State alleged that the matter under investigation was so complex that a “considerable period of time” was needed to solve it, so complex that the investigation would take years. 118 However, it has not adequately explain why the case is so complex, much less why six and a half years have gone by without the State establishing any blame for a fire whose causes were determined right from the start. Therefore, in the Commission’s view that six and a half years was well beyond what might be regarded as a reasonable period of time for an investigation of this type 138. The State has provided no concrete information on the measures taken or progress achieved in the investigations conducted subsequent to the dismissal of the charges against the then Director of the San Pedro Sula Prison. Nor has it provided any information indicating that any public official has been identified or blamed either in administrative or disciplinary proceedings, as a consequence of the May 17, 2004 fire in cellblock 19 of the San Pedro Sula Prison, in which 107 inmates died. 139. The Commission deems that allowing an event of such proportions to go unpunished is a violation of the State’s obligation to respect the rights recognized in the Convention and to ensure their free and full exercise; it is in violation of the right of the victims’ next of kin, and encourages chronic recidivism of human rights violations. Every possible legal avenue should be exhausting in investigating this case. The investigation should be geared to ascertaining the truth, pursuing, prosecuting and convicting all those responsible, especially where agents of the State are or may be involved. 140. The investigation into the violations committed in this case must be carried out in strict accordance with the principles of due diligence. This is so not only because of the nature of the facts, but also in view of the general context in which the violations occurred. Allowing those responsible for the deaths of these 107 young men to go unpunished serves to reinforce the general perception that where gang members are concerned, human life is relative; it sends a dangerous message to the authorities and officers charged with enforcing the law that the State would back any use of force where these groups are concerned. 141. In the instant case, it is clear that the State has not practiced due diligence in its investigation, and has not done everything necessary under its legal system to establish the criminal, administrative and disciplinary blame for the deaths of 107 persons that happened in one its prisons. 142. Given these considerations, the Commission concludes that the State did not provide the victims’ next of kin, duly identified in paragraph 25 of this report, with an effective remedy by which to have the event clarified and establish the corresponding blame, all in violation of the rights recognized in articles 8(1) and 25(1) of the American Convention, in conjunction with Article 1(1) thereof. VI. CONCLUSIONS 143. Based on the observations made throughout this report, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concludes that the Honduran State violated the rights laid down in articles 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 25 of the American Convention, in conjunction with the obligations established in articles 1(1) and 2 thereof. 118 The State’s submission, received February 28, 2007.