48 promoting police officers who got detainees to apply for the Repentance Law, make self-incriminating statements 167 and inform on or finger third parties. 213. From the facts established the Commission notes that on October 16 and 19, 1994, the then president of the Republic, Alberto Fujimori, made statements to the press in which he accused a number of people –Mr. Galindo among them- of having ties with the Sendero Luminoso. He also claimed that they had asked to avail themselves of the benefits of the Repentance Law (which ceased to have effect on November 1, 1994). His purpose was to demonstrate how the Sendero Luminoso had infiltrated the upper echelons of the Judicial Branch. The Commission notes that during the time that Mr. Galindo was deprived of his liberty, prosecutorial decisions were issued on November 4 and 9, 1994, granting Mr. Galindo the exemption from punishment under the Repentance Law. The supposed beneficiary of the exemption was not notified of these decisions, and has consistently maintained that he never applied for the Repentance Law. 214. Furthermore, the Commission notes that while the November 4 decision indicates that one of the alleged terrorists identified by Mr. Galindo had also applied for the Repentance Law, it does not specify whether the application came before or after Mr. Galindo’s detention. 215. Given the circumstances and from the facts established, the Commission notes that the purpose of Mr. Galindo’s 31-day detention was to get him to apply for the Repentance Law, and to that end, to break down his will, which was why he was initially held incommunicado and was not informed of the reasons for his detention or of the charges he was facing; he was put beyond the reach of the law (as no judge was informed of his detention) and beyond any jurisdictional control over his detention (as the Huánuco Pasco Superior Court was not provided the information it had requested), in a context in which the police and military forces used torture against persons suspected of being members of or collaborating with outlaw groups. Through reports on in loco visits and follow-up reports on the situation of human rights in Peru, the IACHR established that during the internal armed conflict in Peru, the police and military forces used torture 168 against persons suspected of being members of or collaborating with insurgent groups. The Commission found that during that period various criminal cases for terrorism and treason were prosecuted using police 169 statements obtained through torture and coercion. The Inter-American Court, for its part, has taken as fact that the general context in Peru in 1993 was one in which police investigations for treason and 170 terrorism were conducted through the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In July 1995, the United Nations Committee against Torture made public its concern over the existence of so many complaints, coming from non-governmental organizations and international bodies or commissions, reporting the widespread practice of torture in the investigation of terrorist acts and the impunity that the 171 torturers enjoyed. 167 Final Report of Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 2003, Volume II, 1.2 The Police Forces, page 232, available [in Spanish] at www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php. 168 IACHR, Report on the situation of Human Rights in Peru, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.83, Doc. 31, March 12, 1993, Section I. Background, C. Human rights problems identified by the Commission, paragraphs 18 and 19, available at http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Peru93eng/background.htm#C. Human rights problems identified by the Commission. 169 IACHR, Annual Report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 1996, Chapter V, Human Rights Developments in the Region, Peru, Section II, The State of Emergency, paragraph 7, and section VIII. Recommendations, paragraph 1(b). Available at: http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/96eng/chap.5c.htm. 170 I/A Court H.R., Case of Loayza Tamayo. Judgment of September 7, 1997. Series C No. 33, paragraph 46, and Case of Cantoral Benavides. Judgment of August 18, 2000. Series C No. 69, paragraph 63.. 171 Report of the Committee against Torture, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Compilación de observaciones finales del Comité contra la Tortura sobre países de América Latina y el Caribe (1988-2005) [available in Spanish only], Chapter 14. Peru, Report on the 40th Session. Official Records of the Fiftieth Session, Supplement No. 44 (A/50/44), July 26, 1995, paragraph 67, available at: http://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/50/plenary/a50-44.htm