31. Regarding the application of statutory limitations, the alleged victim further claims that in his criminal trial he argued that statutory limitations applied since the events took place in 1989, 1991, and 1992, and, since enforcement of the 1924 Criminal Code was more favorable, he requested that the terms of Article 119 of such Code be applied to him. On the other hand, the National Terrorism Chamber held that this was a continuing crime, stating that similar actions breaching the same legal provision took place at different times during 1989 and 1992. Therefore, the statute of limitations began to run at the time the criminal activity stopped. The petitioner reports that according to the National Terrorism Chamber, statutory limitations apply after the maximum punishment for a crime plus half the time of such punishment has elapsed. Since the maximum prison term is 20 years and half of that is ten, statutory limitations for the prosecution of those offenses apply after a period of 30 years; a period of time that had not yet passed at the time criminal charges were filed with the domestic courts. 32. Finally, the petitioner states that he suffers from diabetes mellitus with progressive loss of vision, an unspecified paralytic syndrome, and secondary hypertension. Furthermore, he claims that since his arrest in 2003, he has been hospitalized on June 5 and 7 of 2004 at the neurosurgery service of the Guillermo Almenara Health Center. He also claims to have received inappropriate medical treatment because of the lack of medicines at the prison where he was being held at the time he submitted the petition before the Commission. Additionally, the petitioner claims that in 2002, an MRI scan was performed on him, as a result of which he was prescribed lumbar disc surgery; however, the procedure was not performed since he was held in Miguel Castro Castro maximum security prison. 33. Based on the foregoing arguments of fact and law, the petitioner maintains that the Peruvian State violated his right to humane treatment, to personal liberty, to a fair trial, and the principle of legality, as set forth in Articles 5, 7, 8, and 9 of the American Convention, respectively, in conjunction with the obligation to respect rights and to adopt domestic legal effects set out in Articles 1(1) and 2 thereof. 34. In addition, the alleged victim maintains that exercising the medical profession, against the backdrop of turmoil that existed in Peru, was not without pressure and threats brought to bear by the armed groups, which demanded treatment for their members who fell sick or were injured as a result of their terrorist activities. The alleged victim maintains, however, that the State dealt harshly with medical professionals, paying no heed to the possibility of threats or coercion or to the duty of health professionals to assist all those who so require, irrespective of age, illness or affliction, creed, ethnic origin, sex, nationality, political ideology, race, sexual orientation, social class, or any other factor. In that regard, the petitioner holds that even those who have committed such atrocious offenses as terrorism are entitled to treatment by a doctor, and that under no circumstance should such medical practitioner, who legally renders assistance as part of its profession, be considered a lawbreaker. The petitioner adds that although the law requires criminal acts to be reported to the authorities, Peru’s 1993 Constitution protects professional secrecy (Article 2, section 18, of the Peruvian Constitution11) as a duty derived from medical practice which, consequently, lifts the legal obligation to report crimes, particularly when the person has justified fear of reporting such crimes. 35. With regard to the petition’s admissibility requirements, the petitioner claims to have sought judicial protection through domestic venues by using the remedies available for such purpose; notwithstanding those efforts, however, he was sentenced to ten years in prison for legally exercising his profession as a physician. Specifically, the petitioner states that domestic remedies were exhausted after he filed for annulment against the judgment of the National Terrorism Chamber of February 24, 2004, which concluded with his conviction and the matter becoming res judicata. understood that the collaborative acts listed thereafter (five or six, depending on the law) are intended as mere examples; in other words, they do not constitute an exhaustive list.” pp. 37 and 38. 11 Constitution of Peru. Article 2: “All persons shall be entitled: … 18. To reserve their political, philosophical, religious, or any other convictions, and to observe professional secrecy.” 6