iii. The refusal to acknowledge the detention and to reveal the fate or whereabouts of the person concerned 156. According to the definition in the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons 271 and the case law of this Court, “one of the characteristics of enforced disappearance, contrary to extrajudicial execution, is that it includes the State’s refusal to acknowledge that the victim is in its custody and to provide information on him, in order to create uncertainty about his whereabouts, life or death, to intimidate, and to eliminate rights.” 272 157. In this specific case, the family members insistently asked the State about the situation of Jeremías Osorio Rivera: • • • • • On April 29, 1991, Porfirio Osorio Rivera returned from performing community work in the Community of Tinta to find out that his brother Jeremías had been detained by members of the battalion; he therefore went to the place of detention together with his mother and his sister-in-law and asked for his brother. The soldiers responded that no one was detained in that place. Then, Lieutenant Tello Delgado came to the gate and stated that “[…] they did not need any advocacy efforts there; that [his] brother had committed a serious crime.” 273 Porfirio Osorio Rivera remained in the place of detention from the morning until 10 p.m. without being attended, and then left (supra para. 69). The following day, they went to the detention place and asked the soldier who was at the door for Jeremías Osorio Rivera. The soldier said that no one could see him or assist him; they were made to withdraw from the place and the food they had taken for his breakfast was rejected. 274 The same day, Jeremías Osorio Rivera was taken to Cajatambo (supra para. 70). On April 30, 1991, Silvia Osorio Rivera, sister of Jeremías Osorio Rivera, who lived in Cajatambo, found out about the detention through a mutual friend. Immediately she and her husband went to the Counter-subversive Base, but they were unable to get as far as the door. The soldiers told them that no one could attend them; so they return home, and the following day tried to take him breakfast. 275 On May 1, 1991, Porfirio Osorio Rivera met up with his sister in Cajatambo to go to the Counter-subversive Base and ask for Jeremías Osorio Rivera. A sergeant attended them at the Base, and told them that no detainee had arrived there and that Lieutenant Tello Delgado had gone to the hot springs and, also, that it was a feast day and no one would attend them, so they went back to the sister’s house. 276 On May 2, 1991, they returned to the Counter-subversive Base to ask for their brother. Lieutenant Tello Delgado informed them that Jeremías Osorio Rivera had been released. Porfirio Osorio Rivera did not believe this, so Lieutenant Tello Delgado showed him a document which he said proved the release. 277 Consequently, Porfirio 271 Article II Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons: “forced disappearance is considered to be the act of depriving a person or persons of his or their freedom, in whatever way, perpetrated by agents of the state or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of the state, followed by an absence of information or a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the whereabouts of that person, thereby impeding his or her recourse to the applicable legal remedies and procedural guarantees.” 272 Case of Anzualdo Castro v. Peru. Preliminary objection, merits, reparations and costs, supra, para. 91. 273 Preliminary statement made by Porfirio Osorio Rivera before the Special Provincial Prosecutor for Enforced Disappearances, Extrajudicial Executions and Exhumations of Clandestine Graves on October 18, 2004 (evidence file, volume IV, annex 20 to the submission of the case, folio 1671). 274 Cf. Preliminary statement made by Santa Fe Gaitán Calderón before the Special Prosecutor for Enforced Disappearances, Extrajudicial Executions and Exhumation of Clandestine Graves on November 19, 2004 (evidence file, volume IV, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folios 1688 and 1689). 275 Cf. Affidavit prepared by Silvia Osorio Rivera on August 15, 2013 (evidence file, volume XI, affidavits, folio 5310). 276 Cf. Preliminary statement made by Porfirio Osorio Rivera before the Special Provincial Prosecutor for Enforced Disappearances, Extrajudicial Executions and Exhumations of Clandestine Graves on October 18, 2004 (evidence file, volume IV, annex 20 to the submission of the case, folio 1671), and Affidavit prepared by Silvia Osorio Rivera on August 15, 2013 (evidence file, volume XI, affidavits, folio 5310). 277 Cf. Preliminary statement made by Porfirio Osorio Rivera before the Special Provincial Prosecutor for Enforced Disappearances, Extrajudicial Executions and Exhumations of Clandestine Graves on October 18, 2004 (evidence file, volume IV, annex 20 to the submission of the case, folios 1671 and 1672); Pre-emptive statement made by Porfirio Osorio Rivera before the Court for Civil and Criminal Matters of Cajatambo on July 7, 2006 (evidence file, volume IV, annex 32 to the submission of the case, folio 1784); Affidavit prepared by Silvia Osorio Rivera on August 15, 2013 (evidence file, volume XI, affidavits, folio 5310), and Statement made by Juan Carlos Tello Delgado before the National Criminal Chamber during 57