requirement is to allow national authorities to take cognizance of an alleged violation of a protected right and, if appropriate, to resolve the case before it is examined in an international venue. 45. The requirement of exhaustion of domestic remedies established by article 46 of the American Convention refers to available judicial remedies, which must be appropriate and effective to remedy the alleged human rights violations. The Inter-American Court has established that petitioners are exempted from the obligation of exhausting domestic remedies in those situations where they cannot be exhausted because they are not available to them either as a matter of law or as a matter of fact.7 46. In the instant case, the petitioners have alleged the existence of two reasons for them having been prevented from exhausting domestic remedies: first, they allege that their inability to afford legal services limited their capacity to effectively use available domestic remedies according to the law. In the second place, they maintain that the remedies to be exhausted in the instant case continue to be indefinitely delayed by the judicial authorities, and therefore the death of Mr. Vinicio Poblete Vilches has not been clarified although more than seven years have elapsed since the facts occurred. 47. With respect to the first reason preventing the exhaustion of domestic remedies, i.e., the alleged indigence of the petitioners, it is necessary to recall that the fact that a person is indigent, taken by itself, does not mean that he or she must not exhaust domestic remedies, but that the indigent must or must not exhaust domestic remedies, according to whether the law or circumstances allow him or her to do so.8 Regarding cases of indigence, the Inter-American Court has held that the State that does not provide legal assistance free of charge for indigents cannot later argue that the process exists but was not exhausted.9 48. In its analysis of the facts of the instant case, the Commission notes that the petitioners, eligible due to their economic 7 I/A Court H.R., Exceptions to the Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies 46(2)(a) and 46(2)(b) American Convention on Human Rights.) Advisory 11/90 of August 10, 1990, Series A, No. 11, paragraph 17. 8 I/A Court H.R., Exceptions to the Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies 46(2)(a) and 46(2)(b) American Convention on Human Rights). Advisory 11/90 of August 10, 1990, Series A, No. 11, paragraph 20. 9 I/A Court H.R., Exceptions to the Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies 46(2)(a) and 46(2)(b) American Convention on Human Rights). Advisory 11/90 of August 10, 1990, Series A, No. 11, paragraph 128. 12 (Art. 46(1), Opinion OC(Art. 46(1), Opinion OC(Art. 46(1), Opinion OC-