15 d. When the circumstances and the complexity of the investigations so require, in order to cast additional light on the facts under investigation, the detainee may be ordered to be placed in incommunicado detention for up to the maximum period allowed by law, with the knowledge of the Public Prosecution Service and of the corresponding judicial authority. […] f. Accused persons shall be entitled to select defense counsel, who may only intervene after the detainee has given his statement to the representative of the Public Prosecution Service. If the detainee does not select defense counsel, the police authority shall assign 46 a public defender, to be provided by the Ministry of Justice. 80. Similarly, Article 2.a of Decree Law No. 25744 stipulated that: The Peruvian National Police may take suspects into preventive custody for a period not to exceed fifteen (15) days, reporting the measure to the court authority on duty in the military jurisdiction. To obtain better results in the investigation, that time period may be extended for another 15 days upon a properly justified 47 request from the Peruvian National Police. 81. Regarding the prohibition of habeas corpus filings, Article 6 of Decree Law No. 25659 provided that “at no stage in the criminal proceedings shall guarantee actions be admissible for persons arrested for, involved in, or charged with terrorism crimes as described in Decree Law No. 25475, nor 48 against the provisions of this Decree Law.” Although the right to file for habeas corpus relief was reinstated with the adoption of Law 26248 on November 25, 1993, Article 4 thereof stipulated the inadmissibility of such guarantee actions “based on the same facts or grounds for proceedings underway 49 or already resolved.” 82. The outright banning and later restriction of habeas corpus relief, the legal authorization to keep a person incommunicado, and preventing access by counsel until the detainee had given his first 50 statement contributed significantly to the widespread use of torture at police facilities. According to the CVR’s Final Report, massive use was made of confessions and other kinds of self-incrimination to 51 substantiate charges and secure convictions for terrorism and treason against the fatherland. In addition to the absence of control over the actions of the police during pretrial investigations, the CVR noted a number of administrative practices that encouraged the institutionalization of torture as of 1992, such as awarding promotions to police officers who obtained a given number of adherences to the Repentance 52 53 Law by detainees, self-incriminations, and accusations against third parties. 46 Decree Law No. 25475 of May 5, 1992, available on the web site of the Congress of the Republic of Peru: www.congreso.gob.pe/ntley/Imagenes/Leyes/25475.pdf. 47 Decree Law No. 25744 of September 21, 1992, available on the web site of the Congress of the Republic of Peru: www.congreso.gob.pe/ntley/Imagenes/Leyes/25744.pdf. 48 Decree Law No. 25659 of August 7, 1992, available on the web site of the Congress of the Republic of Peru: www.congreso.gob.pe/ntley/Imagenes/Leyes/25659.pdf. 49 Law 26428 of November 12, 1993, which came into force on November 25 of that year. Available on the web site of the Congress of the Republic of Peru: www.congreso.gob.pe/ntley/Imagenes/Leyes/26248.pdf. 50 Final Report of the CVR, 2003, Vol. VI, 1.4 Torture and Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment, p. 221, available at: www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php. Similarly, see: Human Rights Watch, Peru: The Two Faces of Justice, July 1, 1995, Prosecution of Terrorism and Treason Cases, Interrogation and Torture, available at: www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6a7ed4.html. See also: Amnesty International, Human rights in a Time of Impunity, May 1996, Section 2, The Anti-terrorism Laws: A Violation of International Standards – Widespread Torture, available at: http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/library/Index/ESLAMR460011996?open&of=ESL-325. 51 Final Report of the CVR, 2003, Vol. VI, 1.4 Torture and Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment, p. 215, available at: www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php. 52 On May 12, 1992, the Emergency and National Reconstruction Government enacted Decree Law No. 25499, also known as the Repentance Law, which regulated the reduction, exemption, or remission of sentences for terrorism suspects or convicts who provided information intended to help capture the leaders, heads or main members of terrorist organizations. 53 Final Report of the CVR, 2003, Vol. II, 1.2 The Police Forces, p. 232, available at www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php.