15 the commanders of Shining Path, “who now lead normal lives and maintain that Abimael Guzmán was captured on 30 account of the information furnished by a repentant.” 72. Regarding the Repentance Law, the IACHR stated in its 1993 Annual Report that it had enabled hundreds of people involved in terrorist activities to surrender to the Peruvian authorities, which was a positive 31 development. Nevertheless, the Commission noted that it had: received several petitions to the effect that the Repentance Law is being used (particularly by members of the Sendero Luminoso and by people whom the security forces have threatened, coerced and made false promises to) to accuse innocent people who are frequently declared guilty by the Peruvian police and court 32 authorities solely on the basis of a statement made by someone who has invoked the Repentance Law. 73. The Commission concluded that: “In practice, innocent people are being arrested and held in custody for long periods because of the Repentance Law. Some of these innocent people are even being 33 convicted.” 74. According to the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the enforcement of the Repentance Law led to abuses and political bias: for example, a major problem arose in the province of Leoncio Prado when some 4,000 peasant farmers who went en masse to register were registered as repentants since, in 34 the words of the mayor, “all the farmers, directly and indirectly, participated in subversive actions.” Similarly, the United Nations Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers stated, after his 1996 visit to Peru, that reports from lawyers and nongovernmental sources claimed that the law resulted in the unjust and arbitrary 35 detention of many persons who were not involved with the armed opposition. Likewise, in 1996 the Human Rights Committee said that: The Committee is concerned that this law may have been used by individuals to denounce innocent persons in order to avoid prison sentences or to reduce the duration, a concern that is supported by the fact that there are at least seven draft proposals – one of them from the Ombudsman’s Office (Defensor del Pueblo) and another from the Ministry of Justice – and a Decree Law 26,329 attempting to solve the problem of 36 innocent people being prosecuted or having been convicted under the anti-terrorist laws. 3. Substantive Issues Regarding the Antiterrorist Legislation 75. Decree Law No. 25475 of May 6, 1992, expressly abrogated the provisions of the Criminal Code that had applied to terrorism-related crimes since April 1991 and redefined “terrorism” as any act “provoking, creating, or maintaining anxiety, alarm, and fear in the public, or a sector thereof; making attempts to harm the life, body, health, freedom, and safety of the individual, or property, the security of public buildings, modes and means of communication and transportation of any kind, electric towers and power lines, power plants, or any 30 Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Peru, Vol. IV, Section Three: The Scenarios of the Violence, Chapter 1: Violence in the Regions, 1.4 The Northeastern Region, 1.4.3.3. Military Offensive and Declining Violence: 1993-2000, p. 324. 31 Annual Report of the IACHR 1993, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.85, Doc. 8 rev., February 11, 1994, Chapter IV: Situation of Human Rights in Several States, Peru. 32 Annual Report of the IACHR 1993, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.85, Doc. 8 rev., February 11, 1994, Chapter IV: Situation of Human Rights in Several States, Peru. 33 Annual Report of the IACHR 1993, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.85, Doc. 8 rev., February 11, 1994, Chapter IV: Situation of Human Rights in Several States, Peru. 34 Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Peru, Vol. IV, Section Three: The Scenarios of the Violence, Chapter 1: Violence in the Regions, 1.4 The Northeastern Region, 1.4.3.3. Military Offensive and Declining Violence: 1993-2000, p. 363. 35 UN Doc. E/CN.4/1998/39/Add.1 of February 19, 1998, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of the judiciary and lawyers, Mr. Param Cumaraswamy, Report on the Mission to Peru, para. 65. 36 para. 19. Human Rights Committee, CCPR/C/79/Add.67 of July 25, 1996, Preliminary Observations of the Human Rights Committee, Peru,