persons alleged to be victims are carriers of the HIV/AIDS virus and, as such, require comprehensive medical care to guarantee their survival and physical integrity—meaning medical attention and antiretroviral medication, as well as the appropriate medical tests to determine the state of progress of the disease—none of which the State has made available to them thus far. 30. As to the State, the Commission observed that Guatemala has been a State Party to the American Convention since 25 May, 1978, the date of deposit of its instrument of ratification. The Commission therefore has competence ratione personae to consider the petition. B. Admissibility Requirements 1. Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies 31. According to the petition, on July 26, 2002 the organizations which joined in the petition together with a group of persons who live with HIV/AIDS, including Luis Ronaldo Cuscul Piraval, Facundo Gómez Reyes, and Marta Alicia Maldonado Pac, who were listed in the original petition, together with Alberto Quiché Cuxeva, Dora Marina Martínez Sofoija, Ingrid Janeth Barillas Martínez, Jorge Armando Tavares Barreno, Luis Armando Linares Ruano, Mardo Luis Hernández, Melvin Yovani Ajtun Escobar, Miguel Lucas Vail, Rita Mariana Dubon Orozco and Teresa Magdalena Ramírez Castro (alleged victims who were added to the petition at the request of the petitioners in their communication of October 4, 2004) filed an appeal for legal protection (amparo). Among other objectives, the appeal aimed to induce the Constitutional Court to order the Executive Branch to transfer the necessary funds to purchase and ensure the daily distribution of antiretroviral pharmaceuticals essential to the survival and health of the persons living with HIV/AIDS in Guatemala, as well as quality generic antiretroviral drugs to facilitate a massive rather than selective approach to the treatment of persons who live with HIV/AIDS.14 32. On January 29, 2003, the Constitutional Court rejected the appeal for legal protection (amparo) lodged by both the petitioners and the aforementioned alleged victims to safeguard their lives and health. That judgment was notified to the parties on February 25, 2003. 33. In its response, the State urges the petitioners to continue availing themselves of existing domestic remedies but it fails to specify 14 A copy of the appeal for legal protection (amparo) brought before the Constitutional Court on July 26, 2002 is included in the file. 11