7 7 support it; and the deliberate use of terror and other actions in violation of international humanitarian law. According to the CVR, the acts of violence claimed by or attributed to this group caused more than 31,000 deaths (54% of the total fatalities of the armed conflict), tens of thousands of displaced persons, 8 vast economic losses, and a lasting dejection among Peru’s population. 35. By unleashing its “people’s revolutionary war” in 1984, the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) contributed to the insecurity that prevailed in Peru for several years and to the violations of the basic rights of the Peruvian people. The criminal actions claimed by or attributed to this group included attacks on commercial premises, police stations, and the homes of members of the government; targeted killings of ranking public officials; abductions of business owners and diplomats; executions of indigenous leaders; and some deaths on account of the victims’ sexual orientation or 9 gender identity. 36. In its Second Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Peru, the IACHR noted that the acts of violence carried out by Shining Path and the MRTA “led to the loss of life and property... in addition to the pain and suffering caused by the permanent state of anxiety to which Peruvian society, in 10 general, was subjected.” 37. In its reports on individual cases and on the general human rights situation in Peru, the IACHR noted that during the struggle against Shining Path and the MRTA, the police and the military 11 committed illegal acts that involved serious human rights violations. In addition, it indicated that the security forces carried out arbitrary arrests, torture, rapes, extrajudicial killings, and disappearances, in 12 many cases against people who had no ties to the irregular armed groups. C. General considerations regarding the context 1. Systematic use of forced disappearances in the counterinsurgency effort 38. According to the CVR’s Final Report, the state agents involved in the counterinsurgency effort embraced forced disappearance as a mechanism to dissuade members of the irregular armed groups and their potential members and sympathizers. Quoting that report, “the intimidating effect and the message that other members of the same family or community could suffer similar violations served as a 7 Annex 2: Final Report of the CVR, 2003, Vol. I, Chapter 1, The Periods of the Violence, p. 54. Annex 3: Final Report of the CVR, 2003, Vol. I, Chapter 3, The Faces and Profiles of the Violence, pp. 168 and 169. Annex 1: Final Report of the CVR, 2003, Vol. II, 1.1 The Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path, pp. 127 to 130. Annex 4: Final Report of the CVR, 2003, Vol. VI, 1.1 Killings and Massacres, p. 16, available at www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php. 8 Annex 1: Final Report of the CVR, 2003, Vol. II, 1.1 The Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path, p. 13, available at www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php. 9 Annex 5: Final Report of the CVR, 2003, Vol. II, 1.4 The Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, pp. 387, 389, 392, and 431 to 433. Annex 6: Final Report of the CVR, 2003, Vol. VII, 2.30 The Disappearance of the Ashaninka Chief Alejandro Calderón (1989), 2.39 Killing of Nine Inhabitants of Yumbatos, San Martín (1989), 2.54 Abduction and Murder of David Ballón Vera (1992), available at www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php. 10 Annex 7: IACHR, Second Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Peru, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.106, doc. 59 rev., June 2, 2000, Introduction, B. Frame of Reference, para. 7, available at www.cidh.oas.org/countryrep/Peru2000sp/indice.htm. 11 Annex 7: IACHR, Second Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Peru, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.106, doc. 59 rev., June 2, 2000, Introduction, B. Reference Framework, para. 9, available at www.cidh.oas.org/countryrep/Peru2000sp/indice.htm. 12 Annex 8: IACHR, Report No. 101/01, Case 10.247 and others, Extrajudicial Executions and Forced Disappearances, Peru, October 11, 2001, paras. 163 to 179, available at www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/2001sp/Peru10247.htm. Annex 9: IACHR, Report No. 57/99, Case 10.827, Romer Morales Zegarra and others; Case 10.984, Carlos Vega Pizango, Peru, April 13, 1999, paras. 28 to 44, available at www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/98span/Fondo/Peru%2010.827.htm. Annex 10: IACHR, Report No. 1/96, Case 10.559, Julio Apfata Tañire Otabire and others, Peru, March 1, 1996, section I, Background, available at www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/95span/cap.III.peru10.559.htm. Annex 11: IACHR, Report No. 37/93, Case 10.563, Guadalupe Ccalloccunto Olano, Peru, October 7, 1993, section I, Background, available at www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/93span/cap.III.peru10.563.htm.