59. The petition notes as alleged victims, individual persons with respect to whom the Guatemalan State undertook to respect and ensure the rights enshrined in the American Convention. 60. Bearing in mind that the number of alleged victims of the different facts stated in the petition varies, and, observing the complexity of the situation, the IACHR will consider analyzing this during the merits stage. Based on the foregoing, the persons identified by the petitioners are listed for purposes of admissibility and may be expanded to include other alleged victims of the events described in this petition. 61. As regards the State, the Commission notes that Guatemala has been a state party to the American Convention since May 25, 1978, the date on which it deposited the respective instrument of ratification. Therefore, the Commission is competent ratione personae to examine the petition. 62. The Commission is competent ratione loci to take cognizance of the petition, for it alleges violations of rights protected in the American Convention said to have taken place in the territory of Guatemala, a state party to that treaty. The Commission is competentratione temporis insofar as the obligation to respect and ensure the rights protected in the American Convention was already in force for the State as of the date the facts alleged in the petition are said to have occurred. Finally, the Commission is competent ratione materiae, because the petition sets forth possible violations of human rights protected by the American Convention. 63. The Commission is competent ratione materiae because the petitioners allege violations of rights protected by the American Convention on Human Rights. In addition, the Commission is competent to take cognizance of this complaint pursuant to Article XIII of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, ratified by the Guatemalan State on February 25, 2000, which establishes that the crime of forced disappearance shall be considered continuing or permanent so long as the victim’s fate or whereabouts have not been determined. 64. The Guatemalan State, in its note of August 14, 2007, referring to the information provided by the petitioners on May 7, 2007, said that notwithstanding the existence of the legitimate right of the victims of the massacres that occurred in the communities of Los Encuentros and the village of Agua Fría, it was the position of the State that these and other massacres should be submitted by separate and individual petitions, not as an amendment to the initial petition in the instant case. 65. As regards the position put forth by the State, the IACHR observes that according to the facts alleged by the petitioners, the massacres in the communities of Los Encuentros and Agua Fría are directly related to the events in the Community of Río Negro, and the State has had the procedural opportunity to introduce its information or arguments in this respect, thus it considers the information provided by the petitioners on May 7, 2007, to form part of the record in this petition. B. Admissibility requirements 1. Exhaustion of domestic remedies 66. Article 46(1)(a) of the American Convention provides that for a complaint submitted to the Inter-American Commission to be admissible pursuant to Article 44 of the Convention, one must have first pursued and exhausted domestic remedies, in keeping with generally recognized principles of international law. The purpose of this requirement is to afford the national authorities the opportunity to take stock of the alleged violation of a protected right, and, if appropriate, resolve it before it is heard by an international body. 14