3 IV. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES A. The petitioners 11. In the initial complaint the petitioners alleged that the Chilean State was responsible for violations of Articles 5, 7, 8 and 25 of the American Convention, in relation to articles 1(1) and 2 thereof, and violation of Articles 1 and 9 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture. Thereafter, the petitioners clarified that their complaint in this case did not concern the human rights violations committed as a result of the petitioner’s unlawful detention, torture and expulsion, as described in the initial complaint; instead, the complaint concerned his access to justice and reparations. 12. The petitioners’ allegations can be classified into three groups: (i) the alleged violation of the right of access to criminal justice as a result of the failure to repeal Amnesty DecreeLaw No. 2191, which prevented identification of those responsible for the acts, their prosecution and punishment; (ii) the alleged violation of the right of access to justice on the matter of reparations; and (iii) the alleged inhuman treatment caused by the denial of justice and of adequate compensation. In this regard, the petitioners contend that the State has violated the principle of a reasonable time period, recognized in Articles 8(1), 25, 1(1) and 2 of the American Convention, by virtue of the fact that 18 years after the State’s ratification of the American Convention and more than 30 years after the acts of torture were committed, the State has still not repealed Decree Law 2191 or declared it unconstitutional, nor has it undertaken, at its own initiative, an investigation into the facts of the case nor provided an effective remedy to the victims of torture. They also allege a violation of Article 5 of the American Convention, because of the harm caused to the personal integrity of Mr. García Lucero and his wife by the delay in obtaining justice and reparations, as well as a violation of Article 9 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture on the subject of compensation. 13. As for the background to the allegations, the petition states that on September 16, 1973, Mr. García Lucero was arbitrarily detained and tortured in various ways by the Chilean Police (Carabineros de Chile). With regards to the torture, the complaint alleges that every two or three hours he was tied by the hands and feet, blindfolded, beaten on the head and forced underwater; also that he was beaten with a rifle which caused a severe cut in his forehead, as a result of which he almost lost sight in one eye. It is alleged that they sat him in a blood-stained chair, and according to his torturers the blood belonged to people who had been executed before. He was then allegedly told that if he did not confess his daughter would be executed there, in his presence. After two days of torture and constant abuse, he was taken to the National Stadium where the torture intensified. The following were among the most common forms of torture: tying his hands to a pole and then elevating it in the air with the use of a crane, submerging him in barrel of water and then applying electric shock. The complaint alleges that he was held in the National Stadium for two months, without any contact with his family. When his wife finally discovered his whereabouts and went to visit him, she was allowed to see him for only a half hour before he was transferred to “Chacabuco”, a concentration camp in Antofagasta, two thousand miles from Santiago. He was held there for approximately thirteen months, where he was operated on for a hernia in his groin caused by the torture to which he had been subjected to. The complaint alleges that he is still suffering the psychological and physical aftereffects of the torture that he suffered between 1973 and 1975. These aftereffects include (i) learning difficulties, such as an inability to learn English; (ii) an inability to work; (iii) various mental and physical health problems. Mr. García Lucero is now 77 and is alleged to be in frail health. 14. The petition alleges that in November 1974, the Ministry of the Interior issued the first decree ordering 100 persons be expelled from Chilean territory, one of whom was the alleged