18 j. Testimony of Gladys Benavides López de Cantoral, mother of Luis Alberto Cantoral-Benavides. She was informed over the phone that two of her sons, Luis Alberto and Luis Fernando Cantoral-Benavides, had been detained on February 6, 1993. The house of her son Luis Alberto, located in La Victoria, in Lima, was a complete mess when she arrived, and a neighbor told her that he had been detained by the police at about three o’clock in the morning. The police were looking for her eldest son Jose Antonio, who, it appeared, had been accused by someone who confessed under duress. Since they did not find him, the police took Luis Alberto, and his twin brother Luis Fernando decided to accompany him. She went to the DINCOTE to look for her sons, where she was told that there was no one there with those last names. It was not until the next day that they confirmed that they in fact were there, but she was not allowed to speak to them because she was told they were being investigated and, therefore, were being held incommunicado. She had difficulties in finding a lawyer willing to defend her sons because of the type of case involved, and because of the cost; she would have to hire two lawyers, since it was illegal for the same lawyer to defend two people. When she was finally able to retain the services of two attorneys, four or five days after the arrest, they were not allowed into the detention facility. She was finally able to see her sons eight days after their detention, and only on two occasions during their stay at DINCOTE, the last being on February 25, 1993. The next day, they were paraded before television cameras as terrorists. Next, they were taken to the holding cells at the Palace of Justice, where she managed to see them only once, and later to the veterinary section of a naval base. Then they were taken back to the holding cells. Her son Luis Alberto, who was in very poor health, was later transferred to the prison in Ica. She was not notified of Luis Alberto’s transfer to Ica, and was not able to see him until two weeks later. Before being allowed to enter, she was subjected to degrading treatment, which included body searches and, on certain occasions, even vaginal searches. Communication with her sons was difficult at best; she was allowed to visit them only once a month, for one half hour, speaking to them through a fence, with a policeman standing next to him, and another next to her. On one occasion, the prison doctor prescribed some medication for her son Luis Alberto. She reported the mistreatment of her son to the National Prosecutor’s Office in Lima, and two months later a prosecutor was sent to investigate said allegations. Her son was released almost five years after his detention, when the ad hoc Commission pardoned him, which was very humiliating because her son was innocent and deserved to be acquitted. During Luis Alberto’s detention, the family was threatened and harassed, and were kept under surveillance even after her son was released. Also, the police launched an investigation of the witness’s brother, whose telephone was tapped. As a consequence of all this, her health has suffered considerably. VII ASSESSMENT OF THE EVIDENCE 44. Prior to the examination of the evidence received, the Court will define the general criteria it will apply in assessing the evidence in this case. Most of these criteria have already been defined in the jurisprudence of this Tribunal.