53 167. It is a proven fact that, in the context of the investigations conducted by the Special Provincial Prosecutor for Crime Prevention of Huancavelica, on July 11, 1991, military authorities denied the detention of the fourteen villagers of the community of Santa Bárbara (supra para. 95). In this regard, the judgment of the National Criminal Chamber of Lima’s Superior Court of Justice of February 9, 2012, considered it proven that, “after the murder of the injured parties, the [‘Escorpio’ army] patrol returned to the Lircay Military Base, issuing a false report on the circumstances of the deaths” and indicating that “the entire plan had been carried out without incident [,] thereby concealing the killing of the villagers of Rodeo Pampa.” 200 This suggests that the military authorities concealed information on what happened to the victims, which, if true, is consistent with the denial of information that forms part of a forced disappearance. b) The modus operandi used to destroy evidence during the first days after the events 168. It is a proven fact that, on July 4, 1991, and after the victims had been shot with FAL submachine guns, their remains were dynamited, causing them to fragment into pieces. Subsequently, on July 8, 1991, during the search for the victims, three of their family members discovered the remains of human bodies in the mine and some of them were able to recognize the bodies of at least five of their relatives as well as some of their belongings. On the other hand, on July 11, that is, three days later, another relative of the victims only recognized the corpse of a family member among half-buried human bodies. Finally, in the search carried out on July 18, only various human body parts and organs were found scattered around the place, and on that occasion it was not possible to recognize any of the bodies or belongings of the victims. In other words, between July 4, 8, 11 and July 18, 1991, the human remains that were presumably left in the mine gradually became unrecognizable, since on all those occasions dynamite cartridges and pieces of fuse were observed (supra paras. 93, 94 and 101). 169. In this regard, in its judgment of February 9, 2012, the National Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Lima established as a proven fact that four soldiers were ordered “to return to erase the evidence of the crime, and that they accepted, returning by truck to the Misteriosa mine, just two days after the events occurred– on July 6, 1991.” 201 The National Criminal Chamber did not determine what happened after that. The internal statements given by a defendant and two witnesses indicate that although four people set off for the mine, they did not arrive there and did not comply with the order. 202 In turn, another witness stated in his testimony that, “one week later,” the Lieutenant in command of the “Escorpio” patrol ordered them to “return to the mine to move the bodies […]. This mission was entrusted to a group of 8 or 10 soldiers dressed as civilians.” He explained that “[t]he entrance to the mine was blocked with stones, which [they] removed to extract the limbs of the dismembered human bodies, and placed them in backpacks, which were not very large.” He stated that he carried a leg inside these, and being unable to collect the other human body parts, they proceeded to blow them up with dynamite, which presumably belonged to the base. An hour later, they placed the human body parts in sacks, sinking them in the river with stones that they put inside [the backpacks], and once they had finished this action, they returned to the base.” 203 170. The above elements allow the Court to conclude that, during the first fourteen days after the events occurred, State agents tampered with and dynamited, on several occasions, the site where the remains of the victims were allegedly found, with the clear intention of permanently eliminating the evidence and erasing all material traces of the crime. In the cases of Anzualdo 200 201 202 203 Cf. Cf. Cf. Cf. Judgment Judgment Judgment Judgment of of of of the the the the National National National National Criminal Criminal Criminal Criminal Chamber Chamber Chamber Chamber of of of of February February February February 9, 9, 9, 9, 2012 2012 2012 2012 (evidence (evidence (evidence (evidence file, file, file, file, folios 4512 and 4541). folio 4513). folios 4392, 4396 and 4434). folios 4413 and 4414).