16 64. Of the 97 bodies on which autopsies were performed, only seven were identified. It has not been shown that all procedures necessary to obtain a larger number of identifications were carried out, nor is there proof that the assistance of the relatives of the victims was requested for that purpose. It should be noted that there is a discrepancy in the number of prisoners in the Blue Pavilion before the riot and the number of rioters who surrendered plus the number of dead. According to the proceedings in the military jurisdiction, there were 111 dead (bone remains of fourteen persons and 97 bodies) and 34 survivors, which adds up to a total of 145 persons, while the non-official list delivered by the President of the National Correctional Council includes 152 inmates before the riot. The removal of debris took place between June 23, 1986 and March 31, 1987, that is, over a period of nine months. VIII 65. The Court feels that it is not up to the Inter-American Commission to determine the whereabouts of the three persons to whom these proceedings refer, but instead, because of the circumstances at the time, the prisons and then the investigations were under the exclusive control of the Government, the burden of proof therefore corresponds to the defendant State. This evidence was or should have been at the disposal of the Government had it acted with the diligence required. In previous cases, the Court has said: [i]n contrast to domestic criminal law, in proceedings to determine human rights violations the State cannot rely on the defense that the complainant has failed to present evidence when it cannot be obtained without the State's cooperation. The State controls the means to verify acts occurring within its territory. Although the Commission has investigatory powers, it cannot exercise them within a State's jurisdiction unless it has the cooperation of that State. (Velásquez Rodríguez Case, supra 63, paras. 135-136; Godínez Cruz Case, supra 63, paras. 141-142). 66. The Court deems it proven that Víctor Neira-Alegría, Edgar Zenteno-Escobar and William Zenteno-Escobar were being held in the Blue Pavilion of the San Juan Bautista Prison on June 18, 1986, the date on which the crushing of the uprising started. This fact is certified by the list submitted by the President of the National Correctional Council to the Instructional Judge of the Twenty-First Court of Lima, where a habeas corpus writ was under consideration, and by the list submitted by the Head of Identifications of the San Juan Bautista Prison to the Second Permanent Instructional Court of the Navy. This fact has not been contested by the Government. 67. The Court considers it proven that the three cited persons were not among the rioters who surrendered and that their bodies were not identified. The preceding was certified by the September 20, 1990 note sent by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru to the Commission, which was transmitted by its Alternate Ambassador to the OAS. This note is binding on the Peruvian State (cfr. Legal Status of Eastern Greenland, Judgment, 1933, P.C.I.J., Series A/B, No. 53, page 71) and reads as follows: The allegedly missing persons, Víctor Neira-Alegría, Edgar Zenteno-Escobar, and William Zenteno-Escobar, are not among the rioters who surrendered in the events of the San Juan Bautista Prison from June 18 to 19, 1986, nor are their bodies, according to the records, among the few that could be identified. On the other hand, as a result of these incidents, 92 death certificates were issued corresponding to non-identified bodies, three of which undoubtedly correspond to those three persons whom the Commission regards as missing. 68. In the instant case, an escape of the inmates and actions by third parties other than State authorities not alleged by the Peruvian State are excluded.