65. Bearing in mind that, in the present case, at least two of the alleged victims were associated with universities at that time of their disappearance, the Commission believes it is relevant to refer to information about the context of how these institutions and their members were affected in the framework of the counter-terrorism fight. 66. Between 1988 and 1992, the universities were deeply troubled and became one of the principal hubs for the internal armed conflict in Peru.33 Universities were also benchmark institutions for the upsurge of the Communist Party of Peru—Shining Path, because it was a strategic forum for both disseminating its ideology and for recruiting militants among their students and teachers.34 This led to the stigmatization of these institutions which were the target of violence by both insurgent groups and the state, according to the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR): The behavior of the state and the forces of law and order with respect to university can be characterized in three stages. Initially, they were indifferent to the problem of violence in the universities; then, in a second stage, with the presence of the state, the way was paved for repression by the police and paramilitary forces, which started in 1987 (it tended to be indiscriminate and out of proportion); and in the third stage, it was defined by the militarization of university activities, which since 1991 identified universities as the targets of the counterinsurgency activities of the regime of Alberto Fujimori. According to the testimonies taken by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, we can say that the state, using the forces of law and order, was the protagonist of violence that hit the university community hardest […].35 67. In February 1987, the National Police Force decided to interfere in various university centers of Peru, entering the universities of San Marcos, La Cantuta, and UNI in Lima, where hundreds of students were detained.36 .As of that date, state interventions in universities became more and more frequent, leading to mass detentions.37 In 1988 and 1989, at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos and Cantuta, deaths were recorded, as well as the disappearances of students and teachers.38 In 1991, military bases were installed in the universities of San Marcos, Cantuta, and UNI, Callao and Hermilio Valdizan. In its Final Report, the CVR pointed out that “the universities of San Cristobal de Huamanga, Hermilio Valdizan de Huanuco, Callao, Huancho, and San Marcos, among others, were affected by the counterinsurgency strategy of detentions, disappearances, and destruction of infrastructure during the authoritarian regime of the nineties because of the installation of military bases on university campuses […].”39 68. With respect to the Universidad del Centro de Peru, the final report of the CVR indicated that: 33 Final Report of the CVR, Lima 2003, Volume III, First Part, Second Section, Chapter 3.6. The Universities, page 581 and Volume V, chapters 2.18 to 2.21, available at: www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php 34 Final Report of the CVR, Lima 2003, Volume III, First Part, Second Section, Chapter 3.6. The Universities, page 581, available at: www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php 35 Final Report of the CVR, Lima 2003, Volume III, First Part, Second Section, Chapter 3.6.3. The State’s Counterinsurgency Strategy in Universities, page 610, available at: www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php 36 Final Report of the CVR, Lima 2003, Volume III, First Part, Second Section, Chapter 3.6.3. The State’s Counterinsurgency Strategy in Universities, pages 611, available at: www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php 37 Final Report of the CVR, Lima 2003, Volume V, First Part, Third Section, Chapter 2. Stages of Violence in UNMSM, page 627, available at: www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php 38 Final Report of the www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php. 39 CVR, Lima 2003, Volume III, Chapter 3, pages 621-633, Final Report of the CVR, Lima 2003, Volume VII, page 339, available at: www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php available at: