The facts refer to the arrest of Rigoberto Tenorio Roca on July 7, 1984 by a military patrol consisting of Navy infantry and members of Peru’s Investigative Police when he was traveling with his wife from the city from Huanta to Ayacucho. Since then, despite the efforts of his relatives, his whereabouts are unknown.

These events occurred in the context of widespread human rights violations during the internal armed conflict in Peru between 1980 and 2000.

The Inter-American Court reiterated its standards on forced disappearance as a violation of multiple human rights, which places victims in a defenselessness position that becomes exacerbated, as in this case, when it is part of a wider pattern carried out or tolerated by the State. The Inter-American Court also assessed the incompatibility of military jurisdictions with inter-American human rights law in these types of cases, as well as the validity of amnesty laws.