26 police would beat inmates or throw them into a ditch with cold water and take them wet back to their cells. In September 2001, he was transferred to Challapalca Prison. In order to transfer him they “used explosives to knock down the door [and] make holes in the walls.” The police came in with a hose, teargas, nervous gas, and vomit gas. He spitted blackish saliva for the following fifteen days as the gas had gotten into his lungs. He was not allowed to take any of his belongings with him, -only the clothes he was wearing. When he reached Challapalca Prison, the police officers got him undressed and beat him. He was not allowed to eat or use the toilets. He did not have a spoon, a toothbrush, or a pair of socks. They left him in a cell in isolation, without a mattress or blankets. He had to sleep on cement flooring, although temperatures would drop as low as -24°C in winter. He spent five months without going out to the prison yard. Despite the fact that his health condition had taken a turn for the worse, he was not given medical assistance until the arrival of the representatives of the Inter-American Commission. He was not given adequate clothes or blankets; they gave him only two blankets when at least eight blankets were needed in order to cope with the weather. When visiting the facilities, the Red Cross gave him a blanket, so the director of the prison ordered him to return the two blankets he had been previously provided with. The witness’ next of kin used to visit him every two months at Challapalca Prison, which was located inside a military base. There were accommodation facilities inside the base for inmates’ visitors, but the military authorities would not allow the relatives of prisoners convicted of terrorism to seek accommodation there. His next of kin had to seek accommodation in the nearest community. The witness had to face many problems in order to establish his defense in said confinement units. The commencement of trial was put off several times, which is why the procedure took long. He was neither timely informed of summons to hearings nor of resolutions. His counsel encountered several obstacles in order to obtain a copy of the case file, and police officers were always very restrictive when his counsel would go to visit him. Rather than defending himself from the charges, he was made to prove his innocence. The alleged victim was acquitted on August 6, 2004, and recovered his freedom. The prosecutor appealed the decision, alleging that there were indications of other charges relating to the same proceedings. At the time of his testimony, the witness did not know the outcome of the second trial. After his discharge, the witness had problems to adjust to the family and university environments. When he was detained, he was attending his ninth term of IT engineering. At the time of his testimony, he was attending his tenth term of the same course of studies, but was undergoing many economic and psychological problems. Being an IT engineer was a family project rather than a personal one, and the economic income of the family was devoted to the defense of the alleged victim. His health condition was affected by his detention. The alleged victim suffered from acute stomachache, a bronchial condition, and the nerves. 2. Pedro Ramírez-Rojas, brother of the alleged victim