Torres family and the attorneys in the case have been subjected to constant police surveillance. 18. In their correspondence dated January 12, 2005, the petitioners reported that Walter Mansilla had been threatened by members of the police on several occasions as a result of having given testimony in court documents. They further asserted that Gerardo Atilio Colin and Luis Patricio Oliva and their families have been harassed by the police. 19. On January 17, 2005, Mr. David Alberto Hayes was stabbed to death in the Municipal Jail [Alcaldía Policial] during an alleged altercation at recreation time,5 days after having requested precautionary measures from the IACHR as described in paragraphs 7 and 8 of section II, above, because of the threats and intimidation, and the alleged rape of Miss Tamara Bolívar. 20. The petitioners reported to the IACHR in their January 19, 2004 request to expand the precautionary measures that Miguel Ángel Sánchez, another witness who is serving a prison sentence in the Third Police Station of Commodore Rivadavia, stated in a December 20, 2004 letter to Mrs. Millacura Llaipen, that he was detained with Mr. Iván Eladio Torres in the First Police Station, that he was later moved from one place to another and always held incommunicado, and that his statement had been taken but nothing more was ever said about it. Moreover, the petitioners reported that Mr. Juan Pablo Caba, a son-in-law of Mrs. Millacura Llaipen who had acted as an intermediary between her and David Alberto Hayes and was allegedly present when Mr. Hayes was killed, was also threatened with death by individuals presumed to be police officers. Similarly, the petitioners notified the IACHR that Gerardo Atilio Colin, a minor, was detained on January 17, 2005 by personnel from the First Police Station and that Mrs. Millacura Llaipen received a telephonic death threat on January 18 of that year. The petitioners asserted that Viviana Hayes, a minor and the sister of David Alberto Hayes, had also received death threats. 21. Consequently, based on the available information, the testimonies, and the subsequent threats and acts of aggression against the witnesses, the petitioners allege that Mr. Iván Eladio Torres was in police custody in the First Police Station on October 2, 2003 and that his disappearance is the result of acts and omissions by the State. More specifically, police agents detained, tortured and caused the disappearance of the alleged victim. They consider, therefore, that the State is responsible for the violation of his right not to be arbitrarily detained, his right to physical integrity, and his right not to be subjected to torture or cruel and inhuman treatment. The petitioners underscore that they are continuing their search for the alleged victim in the hope of finding him alive. 22. The petitioners also claim that Mr. Iván Eladio Torres disappeared “in the framework of a systematic practice of human rights violations by the provincial police targeting children, adolescents, and adults wandering the streets: torture, rapes, simulated executions, trumped up legal cases, etc…]” They added that this has been going on at least since 1994 when it was first reported by the Asociación Grupo Pro Derechos de los Niños.6 5 Article from the periodical Diario la Crónica, February 11, 200, www.diariocronica.com.ar 6 Request for precautionary measures dated January 10, 2005. Attached to the original petition dated November 14, 2003 is a list of 22 alleged cases of disappeared persons, illegal coercion, and death threats by police officers in the city of Comodoro Rivadavia, that were reported in the city’s newspapers.