81 B.6. General conclusion 268. Based on all the foregoing considerations, this Court finds that the State: i) failed to exercise due diligence in the initial investigative procedures; ii) obstructed the investigation of the case in at least six different ways; iii) failed to exercise due diligence in the collection of evidence, the location and capture of the fugitive defendants, and regarding the prolonged delay in clarifying all the facts and determining the whereabouts of the disappeared victims after the reopening of the investigation of the case in the ordinary jurisdiction, and iv) violated the right to know the truth of the next of kin of the fifteen disappeared victims in this case. 269. Therefore, the Court concludes that the State violated, to the detriment of the forcibly disappeared victims and their next of kin, the rights to judicial guarantees and judicial protection recognized in Articles 8(1) and 25(1) of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) thereof, as well as in relation to Articles 1, 6 and 8 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture, and Article I.b of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons from March 15, 2002, the date of its entry into force in Peru. In addition, Peru violated the right to know the truth of the next of kin of the disappeared victims. 270. Lastly, the Court considers that the remedy filed by Alejandro Huamaní on behalf of his son Elihoref Huamaní was not effective, and therefore the State violated Article 7(6) of the American Convention to the detriment of Elihoref Huamaní and his next of kin. IX.IV RIGHT TO PERSONAL INTEGRITY OF THE NEXT OF KIN OF THE DISAPPEARED PERSONS A. Arguments of the Commission and of the parties 271. The Commission argued that, in accordance with the Court’s case law, in cases involving the forced disappearance of persons it is possible to understand that the violation of the right to psychological and moral integrity of the victims’ next of kin is a direct consequence, precisely, of that phenomenon. Consequently, given the alleged forced disappearances in this case, the State had the obligation to ensure the right to personal integrity of the next of kin also through effective investigations; thus, the absence of effective remedies constituted a source of additional suffering and anguish for the victims’ families. In this regard, the Commission noted the steps taken by the next of kin after the disappearance of the 15 victims before different State institutions and agencies, in order to determine their whereabouts and investigate and punish the alleged perpetrators. In this regard, it recalled that the Court has considered that the continuous denial of the truth about the fate of a disappeared person constitutes a form of cruel and inhuman treatment for the next of kin. Therefore, it concluded that the right to personal integrity of the victims’ next of kin enshrined in Article 5 of the American Convention, in connection with Article 1(1) of the same instrument, was violated to the detriment of Zósimo Hilario Quispe, Marcelo Hilario Quispe, Gregorio Hilario Quispe, Zenón Cirilo Osnayo Tunque, Víctor Carhuapoma de la Cruz, Ana de la Cruz Carhuapoma, Viviano Hilario Mancha, Dolores Morán Paucar, Justiniano Guillén Ccanto, Abilio Hilario Quispe, Victoria Riveros Valencia, Marino Huamaní Vergara and Alejandro Huamaní Robles. 272. The representatives pointed out that, in accordance with the Court’s case law, in the instant case it is appropriate to apply the presumption of a violation of the right to personal integrity to the detriment of the next of kin of the victims of forced disappearance. They emphasized that these family members have “experienced deep suffering as a result of the forced disappearance of their loved ones,” which was greatly intensified by the disappearance of the seven children. They alleged that the forced disappearance of the victims “caused a rupture within their family units that is still being experienced today.” Furthermore, the victims’ families have allegedly suffered from the lack of justice in the investigations into the forced disappearance of