2 5. The State submitted its response to the petition in a communication dated September 11, 2008, duly forwarding it to the petitioner. In notes dated October 24, 2008, May 19, 2009, and November 15, 2011, the Commission again forwarded it to the petitioner. The petitioner sent his response in a communication dated January 11, 2012, which was duly forwarded. The State submitted its observations on July 5, 2012, and forwarded it accordingly. III. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES A. Position of the petitioner 6. According to the petition, Mr. Jorge Luis López Sosa, who at the time of the events was serving as a police officer, reports that he was the victim of torture in May 2000 at the hands of three police officers, who were allegedly acting under the orders of the Minister of the Interior at the time. He stipulates that he was beaten on the soles of his feet and that they strung him up by his arms with his hands cuffed behind him, causing intense pain in both shoulder joints. He states that he was tortured so that he would implicate others in the failed coup d’état of May 2000, in which he alleges he had no part. At the time he submitted the petition to the IACHR, the petitioner stated that he was detained at the National Police Special Forces Headquarters, where he claims to have been pressured to reach a financial arrangement with his torturers in exchange for withdrawing his complaint and that he would be prevented from presenting a criminal complaint for fear of reprisals. He also stated that his wife was in intensive care for a medical condition at the time and he was not allowed to care for her. 7. Regarding the acts of torture in particular, the petitioner alleges that in the early hours of Friday, May 19, 2000, the Chief of the Ecological and Rural Protection Group told him that to report to Metropolitan Police Station 11. He states that when he reached that police station and went to the office of that chief, they relieved him of his service weapon and tied his hands behind his back, leaving him tied up for a period of about 75 hours. He states that a second officer proceeded to rip the uniform shirt he was wearing in order to remove it from him “with brutal ferocity,” conduct he alleges would only be valid if had been convicted of treason. He maintains that they later blindfolded him with a piece of paper attached with packing tape, making him lie face down on the ground. The petitioner states that other police officers were subjected to the same treatment. 8. He alleges that while the Police Chief was interrogating him about what he had done the night before, the Second Officer and the Assistant Police Chief beat the soles of his feet. He also states that the Second Officer stood above him and stretched his arms upwards, almost lifting him off the ground, causing him intense pain in his shoulder joints. That treatment continued until about noon. According to the petitioner, he and his companions were later taken to a room located next to the cell, where they uncovered their eyes, and where other police officers were brought who had also been mistreated and beaten. 9. He states that the Police Chief said he had orders from the Minister of the Interior at the time to conduct investigations regarding the frustrated coup d’état that had taken place the night before, on May 18, 2000. He states that about 4:00 p.m. they were transferred to the place known as the “four walls” (cuadrilátero). The petitioner states that the next morning he was again brought to Police Station 11, where the Police Chief ordered he be held in the cell, handcuffed, along with common prisoners. The petitioner states that on the following day, Sunday, May 21, 2000, the Minister of Interior appeared at Police Station 11, so he had to remain on his knees against the wall for an hour. He indicates that the Police Chief later asked him to collaborate in the investigation, threatening him about the serious