because internal remedies did not exist or were ineffective; instead, its contention was that the friends or relatives of the victims had an obligation to bring facts that might be considered crimes to the attention of the judicial authorities.5 24. On November 28, 1998, the State reiterated that Noel Emiro Omeara Carrascal was not listed as a homicide victim with the Barranquilla Regional Prosecutor’s Office; because of that, no investigation into his death had been conducted.6 At the hearing held on March 2, 1999, during the Commission’s 102nd regular session, the State asserted that it did not have any information about the injuries that Héctor Alvarez Sánchez had sustained and that the only investigation being conducted was the one looking into the death of Noel Emiro Omeara Carrascal and his son. 25. The State asserted that State agents were not implicated in the case and that the judicial inquiries conducted at the local level had not produced any evidence of the involvement of State agents in the violations alleged by the petitioners. IV. ANALYSIS ON COMPETENCE AND ADMISSIBILITY A. Competence 26. Under Article 44 of the American Convention, the petitioners are authorized to file complaints with the IACHR. The alleged victims named in the present petition are individuals whose Conventionrecognized rights Colombia undertook to respect and ensure. Colombia has been a State Party to the American Convention since July 31, 1973, the date on which the respective instrument of ratification was deposited. Therefore, the Commission is competent ratione personae to examine this petition. 27. The Commission is competent ratione loci to hear this petition, because it alleges violations of rights protected under the American Convention, said to have occurred within the territory of a State party to that instrument. The Commission is competent ratione temporis because the obligation to respect and ensure the rights protected by the American Convention was already binding upon the State on the date on which the events alleged in the petition occurred. Finally, the 5 Note EE/DH/591-95 from the Office of the Director General of Special Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, December 12, 1995. 6 Note EE/DH/033112, from the Office of the Director General of Special Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, November 28, 1998.