22 national courts that have ruled on the facts denounced in this case, and to the evidence that appears in the case file. a) Period from 1970 to 1989 84. According to the Panama Truth Commission,37 and the abovementioned national 38 courts, on October 11, 1968, a group of officers of the Panamanian National Guard carried out a coup d’état against the democratically elected President, who had taken office a few days previously. Following the 1968 coup d’état, the National Guard high command suspended individual guarantees, dissolved the National Assembly and appointed a Provisional Governing Junta presided by the military. As a result of the coup d’état, the suspension of several Articles of the Constitution was decreed, the media were censured, public order on the street was controlled, meetings were prohibited, freedom of movement was limited, and political parties were suppressed, a curfew was imposed, property was raided, and various arrests and detentions were carried out.39 From that time and until December 20, 1989, when the United States of America invaded Panama, the country was governed by various military leaders and by civilian presidents. 85. The report of the Panama Truth Commission indicates that it was able to document at least 40 cases of disappeared persons, who had been “arrested by [State] agents operating under the protection of orders issued by their superiors, deprived of their liberty, and most of them beaten and tortured before being executed.”40 During this period, the Truth Commission also documented the murder of 70 individuals by State agents. As the Truth Commission stated, “in both cases, the acts occurred without the intervention of any judicial authority, revealing criminal behavior by those who were called on to protect the safety and integrity [of the people].”41 86. The Truth Commission also indicated that the reports received demonstrate that most of the deaths and disappearances took place during the first three years (1968-1971) of the military dictatorship,42 at the time Heliodoro Portugal was detained. evidence, Volume I, fs. 4264 to 4268), and Final Report of the Panama Truth Commission of April 18, 2002 (file of appendixes to the brief with pleas and motions, Volume I, fs. 4271 to 4460). 37 The Court considers that the creation of a Truth Commission, according to the objective, procedure, structure and purpose of its mandate, can contribute to constructing and preserving the historical memory, clarifying the facts, and determining institutional, social and political responsibilities during specific historical periods of a society. The historical truths obtained by means of this mechanism should not be understood as a substitute for the State’s obligation to ensure the judicial determination of individual or State responsibilities by the corresponding jurisdictional means, or the determination of international responsibility that corresponds to this Court. These are determinations of the truth that are complementary, because they all have their own meaning and scope, as well as specific possibilities and constraints, which depend on the context in which they arise and on the specific cases and circumstances they examine. Indeed, the Court has accorded special value to the reports of the truth or historical clarification commissions, as relevant evidence in the determination of the facts and of a State’s international responsibility in various cases submitted to its jurisdiction. Myrna Mack Chang v. Guatemala. Merits, reparations, and costs. Judgment of November 25, 2003. Series C No. 101, paras. 131 and 134; Case of Zambrano Vélez et al., supra note 17, para. 128, and Case of La Cantuta, supra note 16, para. 224. 38 Cf. Judgment of the Second Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of March 2, 2004 (file of appendixes to the application, appendixes 1 and 2, appendix 35, fs. 287 to 297); and Decision No. 167 issued by the Second Superior Court of Justice of June 13, 2003 (file of appendixes to the application, appendixes 1 and 2, appendix 33, fs. 237 to 255). 39 Cf. Final Report of the Panama Truth Commission, supra note 36, f. 4281. 40 Final Report of the Panama Truth Commission, supra note 36, p. 9, f. 4279. 41 Final Report of the Panama Truth Commission, supra note 36, p. 9, f. 4279. 42 Cf. Final Report of the Panama Truth Commission, supra note 36, p. 2, f. 4366.