68 especially when committed by State agents; and serious deficiencies in due process and the 383 administration of justice. 293. The facts of the present case are part of a broader situation in which impunity ran high; this high level of impunity is itself one of the most serious human rights violations occurring in Guatemala.384 Impunity for those responsible for committing human rights violations is one of the most important factors contributing to the persistence of such violations, as well as criminal and social violence.385 The facts of this case occurred against a backdrop of extreme violence and persecution, in which impunity was one of the gears in a system that was the umbrella under which the most unspeakable atrocities were committed. The obligation to combat impunity is premised on an understanding of the fact that “impunity fosters chronic recidivism of human rights violations, and total 386 defenseless of victims and their relatives." 294. The facts of the instant case involve a series of serious violations of human rights, among them arbitrary detention, torture, rape, extrajudicial execution and forced disappearance of the villagers of Chichupac and neighboring communities, as part of a policy conceived by those who wielded power, and aimed at wiping out entire communities on a scale that qualifies as genocide. 295. Given the precedents that establish the State’s obligations to investigate cases of this type, the Commission will examine whether, in the instant case, the Guatemalan State conducted a serious and diligent investigation within a reasonable period of time. 2.6.1. Concerning the duty to conduct a serious and diligent investigation of the facts of this case 296. Regarding the massacre in the village of Chichupac on January 8, 1982, the Commission observes that the victims’ next of kin took the risk of formally reporting the facts in March 1993. Over 32 years have passed since the events in this case, and 21 years since a complaint was filed. Nevertheless, the Commission notes that from the documentation supplied by the parties, no one has ever been made to answer for these human rights violations; indeed, neither the intellectual authors nor material authors have even been identified. 297. From the evidence on record, the IACHR observes that the only investigative measures adopted were the testimonies taken from family members and the 1993 exhumation of the victims’ remains. The Commission also observes that the case file was missing for at least six years, which not only prevented any judicial inquiries but also prevented the victims’ family members from becoming plaintiffs in the case. 383 IACHR, Fifth Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Guatemala, April 6, 2001, par. 3. 384 IACHR, Fifth Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Guatemala, April 6, 2001, par. 55. 385 IACHR, Fifth Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Guatemala, April 6, 2001, par. 57. In the Report, the IACHR made the following appeal to the State: “The Commission exhorts the State to devote priority attention and political will to overcoming the situation of impunity that persists, and reiterates that the State will face responsibility for all violations of human rights that occur until such time as it takes the necessary measures to ensure that justice is administered fairly and effectively.” 386 I/A Court H.R., Case of Loayza Tamayo v. Peru. Reparations and Costs. Judgment of November 27, 1998. Series C, No. 42, paragraphs 169-170.