56. The military intelligence system included the National Police, which supported the Army and its intelligence agencies in the counterinsurgency operations, which included enforced disappearances such as those that occurred in this case. 50 According to official sources, the Heads of the Police were often members of the Army, which affected the chain of command. According to the Guatemalan Peace Secretariat, this situation “shows that the different police corps, some more than others, became operational arms of the Armed Forces, who always retained responsibility for the decision-making.51 57. As established in other cases concerning Guatemala heard by this Court, in that country the forced disappearance of persons constituted a State practice during the internal armed conflict. It was carried out mainly by agents of its security forces and, based on this practice, members of insurgent movements or persons identified as supporters of the insurgency were captured.52 According to the CEH, State forces and paramilitary groups linked to them were responsible for 92% of the forced disappearances that it recorded.53 58. In Guatemala, the peace negotiation process began in 1990 and culminated in 1996. Over this period 12 agreements were signed, including one that established the Historical Clarification Commission, which began work on July 31, 1997, and submitted its report on February 25, 1999. The National Reconciliation Act established that the State authorities “had a legal obligation to support the [CEH].” However, the CEH complained that State agencies did not permit access to relevant information. Thus, the CEH emphasized that “it did not receive a single document with information on the activities of the Intelligence Services,” even though it had requested them.54 Moreover, there were also cases in which the authorities denied the existence of information and in which the CEH indicated that it knew of the existence of documents that subsequently appeared, such as the Diario Militar 50 Cf. Affidavit made by expert witness Alejandro Valencia Villa, supra, folios 13297 and 13298; Testimony given by witness Marco Tulio Álvarez Bobadilla on March 16, 2012 (file of documents received at the public hearing, folio 13651); expert opinion provided by Katharine Doyle before the Inter-American Court at the public hearing in this case, and CEH, supra, volume II, pp. 43 and 44, para. 847, and PDH, Informe Final de Investigación: Centro de Operaciones Conjuntas of the National Police [Final report of investigation. Joint Operations Center of the National Police]. Fondo Documental GT PN 51, 2009, p. 31 (file of annexes to the pleadings and motions brief, tome VI, annex D1, folio 11367). 51 Peace Secretariat, supra, pp. 49 and 53. Also, Cf. PDH, El Derecho a Saber. Informe Especial del Archivo Histórico de la Policía Nacional de Guatemala. [The right to know: Special report on the Historical Archive of the National Police of Guatemala]. 2009, p. 95, annex 1 to the merits report, available at http://www.pdh.org.gt/index.php?option=com_phocadownload&view=category&id=5&Itemid=55&limitstart=20; CEH, supra, volume II, p. 149, paras. 1164 and 1165; Affidavit made by expert witness Alejandro Valencia Villa, supra, folio 13298, and Testimony given by witness Marco Tulio Álvarez Bobadilla, supra, folio 13650. 52 Cf., inter alia, Case of Bámaca Velásquez v. Guatemala. Merits. Judgment of November 25, 2000. Series C No. 70, para. 132; Case of Tiu Tojín v. Guatemala, supra, para. 49, and Case of Chitay Nech et al. v. Guatemala. Preliminary objections, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of May 25, 2010. Series C No. 212, para. 67. 53 Cf. CEH, supra, volume II, p. 411, para. 2053. 54 Cf. CEH, supra, volume I, pp. 23, 26-27, 30, 35, 49 to 51, 215, paras. 1, 2, 19, 45, 89 to 96 and 694, and tome II, pp. 13, 14 and 15, paras. 741 and 745; Case of Myrna Mack Chang v. Guatemala. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of November 25, 2003. Series C No. 101, para. 134.9; Case of the Río Negro Massacres v. Guatemala, supra, para. 64; Decree No. 145-1996 – Law of National Reconciliation, December 27, 1996, art. 10 (file of annexes to the pleadings and motions brief, tome IV, annex A55, folio 10486), and Affidavit made by expert witness Alejandro Valencia Villa, supra, folio 13290. - 22 -