57 effects on the mental integrity of the next of kin of victims who have been executed.”336 As regards forced disappearances specifically, the Court has established that: (…) the violation of those relatives' mental and moral integrity is a direct consequence of [the] forced disappearance. The circumstances of such disappearances generate suffering and anguish, in addition to a sense of insecurity, frustration and impotence in the face of the public authorities' failure to investigate.337 246. By extension, because of the pain and anguish suffered by the next of kin of the victims of massacres, extrajudicial executions and forced disappearances, the Commission considers that they were, at the same time, victims of a violation of their right to humane treatment. 247. The suffering of the next of kin in this case is especially severe since, according to the facts established in the present report, a number of the members of the community not only witnessed the way in which their family members were tortured and extrajudicially executed, which in itself constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, but they themselves were victims of violations of their own personal integrity in the form of assaults, arrests, rapes, and so on. 248. As to the plight of the families affected by events of this type, the IACHR observed that it: […] has given close attention to the plight of the population uprooted by the conflict since the early 1980’s. […] It was at that time that the “scorched earth” strategy of massacres and the eradication of whole villages implemented by the Lucas García regime and continued by the Efraín Rios Montt regime led to massive flows of displaced persons. The separation of families, 338 communities and cultural groups tore the social fabric of the country. 249. The Commission believes that in the instant case, the persecution, extreme violence, the utter defenseless of the victim population, and the intention to destroy the bases of family and society, which were the driving forces behind the violence that occurred in the context described earlier, allow one to infer that this was an autonomous violation of the right to protection of the family. 250. Likewise, in cases in which a complete and effective investigation was lacking, the Court has written that: (...) the absence of a complete and effective investigation into the facts constitutes a source of additional suffering and anguish for victims and their next of kin, who have the right to know the truth of what happened. This right to the truth requires a procedural determination of the most complete historical truth possible, including the determination of patterns of collective action 336 I/A Court H.R., Case of the Ituango Massacres v. Colombia. Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of July 1, 2006. Series C No. 148, par.262. See also I/A Court H.R., Case of the Mapiripán Massacre v. Colombia. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of September 15, 2005. Series C No. 134, par.146. 337 I/A Court H.R., Case of Blake v. Guatemala. Merits. Judgment of January 24, 1998, par.114. 338 IACHR, Fifth Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Guatemala, April 6, 2001, Chapter XIV, par.2.