2. Timeliness of the Petition 28. Article 46(1)(b) of the Convention provides that a petition must be lodged within a period of six months from the date on which the petitioners are notified of the final judgment exhausting domestic remedies. The petitioners allege that the denial of justice was consummated on December 9, 2002, the date of the Supreme Court’s decision. The petitioners filed their complaint with the Commission on April 15, 2003. The State did not argue a failure to comply with the six months rule and thereby is considered to have tacitly waived this defense. Notwithstanding the above, the Commission finds that the petition was lodged within the period set forth in Article 46(1)(b) of the Convention. 3. Duplication of Proceedings and Res Judicata 29. The Commission understands that the substance of the petition is not pending in any other international proceeding for settlement, and that it is not substantially the same as any petition previously studied by the Commission or other international body. Hence, the requirements set forth in Articles 46(1)(c) and 47(d) of the Convention have also been met. 4. Characterization of the Facts Alleged 30. The Commission notes that the petition raises important questions regarding the rights of members of the military to be protected from allegedly “arbitrary” actions of the State. The facts concern violations allegedly committed against members of the military by ade facto government that had deposed a constitutional government, which these military officers claim to have supported, and whether a civilian court in a subsequent democratic government may review the purportedly final judgments that were taken by the military courts during the de facto government. The Commission decides that the petitioners’ claims describe acts that, if proven to be true, could tend to establish a violation of the rights protected by Articles 1(1), 8(1), 8(2)(h), 9, 11(1), 24, 25 and 27(2) of the American Convention; thus, the requirements of Article 47(b) have been satisfied. V. CONCLUSION 31. Based on the above legal and factual considerations, the Commission concludes that the case at hand satisfies the admissibility requirements set forth in Article 46 of the American Convention and, without prejudging the merits of the case, THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, DECIDES: 1. To declare this case admissible with respect to Articles 1(1), 8(1), 8(2)(h), 9, 11(1), 24, 25, and 27(2) of the American Convention. 2. To transmit this report to the petitioners and to the State. 3. To continue with its analysis of the merits of the case. 4. To publish this report and to include it in the Commission’s Annual Report to the General Assembly of the OAS. Done and signed at the headquarters of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, in the city of Washington, D.C., March 10, 2005. (Signed): Clare K. Roberts, President; Susana Villarán, First Vice-President; Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Second Vice-President; Commissioners Evelio Fernández Arévalos, Freddy Gutiérrez, and Florentín Meléndez. 7