of the Judiciary, the Court of Constitutional Guarantees, the National Council of the Judiciary, the Public Prosecution Service, and the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic.” 61 64. In addition, the Inter-American Commission reported that, as of April 5, 1992, the “[p]olitical violence perpetrated by illegal armed groups, especially [Shining Path], increased significantly.” 62 B) The practice of detentions, torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment at the time of the facts 65. The CVR established that the State’s actions included a pattern of detentions that “consisted in an initial violent arrest of the victim […,] accompanied by a search of the victim’s home using the same violent methods.” The person detained “was blindfolded or their face was covered entirely.” The CVR stressed that many of the witnesses it heard stated that they were unable to read the records that were made of the searches and that “the victims or their family members were made to sign” them. It also indicated that “[i]n the case of arrests in the home or at checkpoints, the suspect was previously followed or their location discovered.” Subsequently, the person was taken to police or military premises where “the person’s fate [was decided and] they were either released or executed arbitrarily.” 63 66. The CVR received thousands of reports of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment that had occurred over the period from 1980 to 2000. In its Final Report it affirmed that, of the 6,443 acts or torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment recorded by this body, “75% correspond[ed] to actions attributed to State officials or persons acting with its authorization and/or acquiescence,” while 23% corresponded to the subversive group, Shining Path. 64 The CVR concluded that “torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment constituted a systematic and widespread practice in the context of counterinsurgency operations.” 65 67. The CVR indicated that torture was frequent in the offices of the Police, such as the DINCOTE headquarters, where it was used as an investigation method. 66 The CVR also indicated that it was very usual that “the members of the victims’ family [were] threatened, if the victims did not incriminate themselves, or accuse others.” 67 Moreover, the CVR indicated that, during this period, those detained in the DINCOTE were placed in small cells, without a bed or mattress, while being deprived of food and, “in many case, were not allowed to use the lavatories.” 68 The denunciations of 61 Decree-Law No. 25,418 of April 7, 1992 (file of annexes to the State’s brief of August 14, 2013, folio 5236); Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, volume I, chapter 4, p. 242 and volume III, chapter 2.3, pp. 83 and 84, and IACHR, Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Peru, OEA/Ser.L/V/ll.83, Doc. 31, March 12, 1993, Section lll, Situation since April 5, 1992, para. 52, Available at: http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Peru93eng/iii.htm 62 IACHR, Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Peru, OEA/Ser.L/V/ll.83, Doc. 31, March 12, 1993, Section lll, Situation since April 5, 1992, para. 108, Available at: http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Peru93eng/iii.htm 63 252. Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, volume VI, chapter 1.2, p. 114, and chapter 1.4, pp. 240, 241 and 64 Cf. Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, volume VI, chapter 1.4., p. 183. See also, Case of the Miguel Castro Castro Prison v. Peru. Merits, reparations and costs, supra, para. 197(5). 65 Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, volume VI, chapter 1.4, p. 212. 66 Cf. Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, volume V, chapter 2.22, pp. 706 and 707. See also, affidavit prepared on June 21, 2006, by expert witness Ana Deutsch in the Case of the Miguel Castro Castro Prison (file of annexes to the motions and arguments brief, annex 68, folio 3217). 67 Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, volume VI, chapter 1.4, p. 249. 68 In addition, the statements received by the CVR indicated that “the places of reclusion were small spaces [that] did not receive daylight and, especially adequate ventilation, and were usually damp and smelled bad, because, since most people did not have access to toilet facilities, they defecated where they were kept.” Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 21