41 83. It has been established that the vehicle used to convey most of the victims after their detention was a white "van". Both the Ford and the Nissan Cherry Vanette (used in Mr. González-López’s abduction) were later identified, except in the cases of Mr. González-Rivera, Mr. Corado-Barrientos and Mr. Erik Chinchilla. 84. There is also a certain similarity in the manner in which the victims were killed, except for Mr. Erik Leonardo Chinchilla, who was shot. The others were stabbed to death (Ms. Paniagua-Morales, Mr. González-Rivera and Mr. Corado-Barrientos) or strangled (Mr. Gómez-Ayala and Mr. González-López). Those five victims were brutally murdered and there are clear signs that they were tortured, as shown in the autopsy reports, documents pertaining to the removal of the bodies, photographs, and the report by expert Robert C. Bux. 85. Victims González-Rivera and Corado-Barrientos, who, according to witness González-Saquij, walked away with the armed man, were presumably placed inside a vehicle where there were other armed persons besides the one seen by the witness. It was reported on page 6 of the Guatemala City newspaper "El Gráfico" of February 12, 1988 that witnesses saw those two persons put into a white van with tinted windows. The reporters’ article included the attached police report. 86. While this newspaper report may not suffice as evidence in the case of these two victims, there is further probative evidence, such as the similar pattern of their deaths and their captors’ cruelty, as already noted. 87. Moreover, with respect to Mr. González-Rivera and Mr. Corado-Barrientos, the Court considers that State agents were involved in their detentions and murders, whether or not they were "G-2" (Military Intelligence) or from the Treasury Police itself. This case was also included in the investigations on record in the National Police report which attributed responsibility to the agents of the State. 88. With regard to the official autopsies performed on the victims, the report of expert Robert C. Bux, who saw the autopsies and was able to compare them with the photographs in preparation of his report, is deemed by the Court to be flawed in that they make no mention of wounds, contusions or other details that could have signaled the abuse and torture to which the victims were subjected prior to their deaths. IX PROVEN FACTS 89. The Court now considers the following significant facts corroborated through the submissions of the State and the Inter-American Commission, as well as the documentary and testimonial evidence presented in the instant Case. a. Between June 1987 and February 1988, Guatemala witnessed a series of arbitrary detentions described as kidnappings, accompanied by ill-treatment, torture and, in some cases, deprivation of life. Some of those detained were taken to the premises of the Treasury Police where they were abused; others, whose place of detention remains unknown, were found dead and their bodies, bearing signs of physical violence, were abandoned the same day or a few days after their detention on the streets in and around Guatemala City. (cfr. Police report, official communication No. 3214 Ref. BIEN. FOA/rrh, of June 6, 1988; interview with Eugenio Ruano contained in police report of February 15, 1988, signed by the acting chief of the AntiKidnapping Section of the Special Investigations and Narcotics Brigade of the National Police; statement by María Luisa Chinchilla-Ruano on February 20, 1987 (rectius 1988); sworn declaration of Marco Antonio Montes-Letona on March 15, 1988 at the Office of the Warden of the Pavón Criminal Rehabilitation Farm; notarial act signed by José Antonio Montenegro on March 15, 1988, at the Office of the Warden of the Pavón