26. On December 30, 1997, the Tribunal Nacional decreed the nullity of the proceedings with respect to those victims from Pueblo Bello whose remains had not been found, and ordered that the other participants not included in the original indictment be investigated. This investigation remains open, 12 years after the facts. As a general rule, a criminal investigation should be performed promptly to protect the interests of the victims, to preserve the evidence, and even to safeguard the rights of any person who, in the context of the investigation, is considered a suspect. The failure to pursue investigations into several of the participants in the facts of this case, together with the failure to execute the arrest warrant for the paramilitary leader and other persons convicted in absentia, are expressions of delay and of the scant prospects for this remedy to be effective for the purposes of the requirement set out at Article 46(2) of the American Convention.11 As the Inter-American Court has noted, while every criminal investigation must meet a series of legal requirements, the rule of prior exhaustion of domestic remedies must not lead to a halt or delay that would render international action on behalf of the victims ineffective.12 27. Therefore, given the characteristics of this case, the Commission considers that the exceptions provided for at Article 46(2)(a) and (c) of the American Convention apply, accordingly, the requirement to exhaust domestic remedies does not apply. Nor does the sixmonths requirement at Article 46(1)(b) of the Convention, as the petition was presented within the reasonable time referred to in Article 32(2) of its Rules of Procedure for cases in which there has been no firm decision prior to lodging the petition. 28. All that remains to be noted is that invoking the exceptions to the prior exhaustion requirement of Article 46(2) of the Convention is closely linked to the determination of the possible violation of certain rights set forth therein, such as the guarantees of access to justice. Nonetheless, Article 46(2), by its nature and purpose, is a rule that stands autonomously from the substantive provisions of the Convention. Therefore, the determination as to whether the exceptions to the rule of prior exhaustion of domestic remedies provided for at Article 46(2) are applicable to the case in question should be done prior to and separate from the analysis of the merits, since it depends on a different standard of appreciation from that used to determine violations of Articles 8 and 25 of the Convention. It should be clarified that the causes and effects that have impeded the exhaustion of domestic remedies in the instant case will be analyzed, as relevant, in the Report the Commission adopts on the merits of the dispute, to determine whether indeed violations of the American Convention have taken place. 2. Duplication of procedures and res judicata 29. It does not appear from the file that the subject matter of the petition is pending before any other procedure for international settlement, or that it is substantially the same as a petition already examined by this or any other international body. Therefore, the requirements set forth at Articles 46(1)(c) and 47(d) of the Convention have been met. 3. Characterization of the facts alleged 30. The Commission considers that the petitioners’ allegations of violations of the right to life, the right to humane treatment, and the right to personal liberty, as well as the rights to a fair trial and to judicial protections, in the matter addressed herein, tend to establish violations of the rights of the victims and their next-of-kin, enshrined in Articles 1(1), 4, 5, 7, 8, and 25 of the American Convention. From the information provided by the parties, it appears that two of the victims, Manuel de Jesús Montes Martínez and José Encarnación Barrera Orozco, were minors; therefore, when deciding on the merits of the case, the IACHR shall determine whether it is appropriate to examine the international obligations of the State with respect to Article 19 of the American Convention. 11 See Admissibility Report Nº 57/00, IACHR Annual Report 2000, para. 44. 12 I/A Court H.R., Velásquez Rodríguez Case, Preliminary Objections, Judgment of June 26, 1987, para. 93. 6